Nightmare Before Christmas: Pinocchio's Story
by hmueller
Summary: Pinocchio is now living with his uncle, Jack Skellington, in Halloween Town. But his uncle soon becomes tired of his job and discovers the holiday of Christmas. Jack eventually wants to do Christmas himself, but Pinocchio is totally against this plan. Will Pinocchio be able to find a way to stop Jack, or will he be forced to watch his uncle get hurt? My first fanfic. Yay!
1. Prologue

Nightmare Before Christmas: Pinocchio's Story

Prologue

It's strange how my life lead up to this point. It was almost all a little unexpected. But I always viewed it like a grand adventure, even if it did have a few sad parts. My name is Pinocchio P. Woodworth (the "P" stands for "Puppet" by the way). Yes, the same nose growing puppet-kid who was brought to life by the Blue Fairy. And this is the story of one of my most memorable adventures with my uncle, Jack Skellington.

Let me start from the beginning: it all began shortly after the Blue Fairy turned me into a real boy. I'll admit, for a while it was fun. But two years later, when I turned ten, was when everything changed for me. My relationship with Geppetto wasn't going all that great and also, Jiminy and I were getting into a few disagreements. I didn't need him as my conscience. I could already tell the difference between right and wrong (my first adventure after coming to life taught me alot). And true, I was getting into trouble almost every week, but that still didn't make it necessary for what Geppetto did to me!

One day when I was getting ready for school, Geppetto stopped me and told me that I wasn't going to school that day. I was overjoyed by that prospect, but would soon become aware of why. He took me to this giant building that looked like a hospital. He told me it was a facility called The Academy, where they made robots. It was then when I realized what was happening: Geppetto was giving me away to be turned into some robot kid. Actually, when I put it that way, it sounds pretty awesome! But anyway, I can still remember men coming to meet us at the front gate. They were dressed in black and wore black helmets. They almost looked like agents in a movie that I once saw. They grabbed me by the arms and started dragging me away from Geppetto. I couldn't believe it. Geppetto, my own father, was just… giving me away like this. I remember how angry and hateful I felt as I was being dragged away from the man who carved me from pinewood. But at the same time, I saw something in the old man's eyes. Was it remorse?

I don't remember much about what happened next, because they put me on anesthesia. When I woke up, I saw that my skin was wooden again, and I realized that I had been turned back into a puppet. I also had been given a tail, which, at first, brought back some very bad memories. But the doctors there told me that I had been turned into something more: a robotic puppet!

I know this all seems very sad and kind of dark, but honestly, after that, things got a lot better. At first, I was pretty shocked at all that had happened, but things at The Academy weren't all that bad. The doctors there were very kind, and I got placed with a doctor name Dr. Strauss. I can still remember what she looked like: tall with grayish-black hair and purple glasses. She always had a warm expression on her face, and she was like a mother to me while I was at The Academy. She always encouraged me when I was sad, she supported me, and always bought me ice cream on Tuesdays. (I still miss that.) She even gave me a backpack which could pretty much hold anything (which means I could fit a tank in there). I was also given a time machine by The Academy. I don't know what it's for because I haven't tried it out, but I'm certain it's something good. I was soon taught all the new thing about me: how my robot system worked, the fact that I could shoot lasers from my eyes (which was pretty mind-blowing when I first found out), become invisible (once again, awesome), and the fact that I was super swift and agile. I was soon taught karate _and_ kung fu, which I was very good at. I was so good, in fact, that I rose to getting my black belt. I was also taught how to use certain weapons, like guns (don't worry, I've got a permit), and my two personal favorites, the kanata and the nunchucks. My training in karate and kung fu was such a huge point in my life that I decided to keep my gi, which I have worn to this day. I also learned about my ability to run on all fours. I guess the doctors put a little animal instinct inside of me (nothing too savage, though), I was also taught about the real world: history, English, math, you know, the usual school stuff. Then came another huge moment in my life that I will never forget: I was given Pokemon! My starter Pokemon was Chimchar. Right when we first met, we immediately became best buds. I was soon given more Pokemon: Piplup, Pikachu, Turtwig, Starly, and Riolu, and I formed a strong bond with all of them. We became our own family. I loved my Pokemon so much that I made them all a little gift. Since the doctors had also programed me with a knack for inventing stuff, I decided to take full advantage of that, and made my pokemon some collars that would allow them to talk. I became so fascinated by Pokemon that I wanted to find out more about them. So I did extensive research and eventually, I learned everything there is to know about all eight-hundred and two Pokemon.

Soon came the day when I graduated from The Academy, and I was released into the real world. I was kind of sad that I had to say goodbye to Dr. Strauss, but I knew that I would be okay. Plus, I could take care of myself.

So, after that, I explored the world. I went everywhere: Germany, England, China, Japan, Paris, Ireland, Scotland, the U. S., you name it.

It was all fun and games, but I started to feel… lonely. True, I had my Pokemon with me, but something in this life of freedom felt like it was… missing.

That is, until I got a call from The Academy. (They said they would be in touch if I needed anything.) It was about _my uncle_. I was very surprised by this. I never knew I had an uncle, but I soon received an even bigger surprise when I found out that my uncle was a skeleton, and not just any skeleton: the King of Halloween! I wasn't sure if this was all a prank or something, but due to how things were going for me then, I decided that I could use the company. And who knew. Maybe I did have some connection with this skeleton guy, even if it was a tad bit weird.

So, I headed off to this world called Halloween Town via teleporter (which was another device given to me by The Academy although it didn't even look like a teleporter at all. Just a little remote control switch with a red button on it that would take me anywhere if I asked it to.) When I first arrived there… well, let's just say I didn't exactly get the warm welcome I was hoping for. Upon entering the town, I first looked around at the buildings. They were all very tall, gray, some slightly slanted, and made of wood and brick, except for one that was made entirely out of metal and looked like an antenna. Some of them were shaped weirdly, too. One of them looked like a giant octopus. Another looked like Pac-Man with sharp teeth and little hairs sprouting out of his head. (I eventually found out that those where branches). Then came the people, or I really shouldn't say people; more like _monsters_. Almost every type of monster lives in Halloween Town. Witches, vampires, a wolfman, a zombie, they even had a mad scientist, though I found it interesting that he was wheelchair-bound. But there were also some other monsters there that I'd never seen the likes of before. There was a melting man, a fat clown who was always riding on a unicycle, a talking tree that would walk all over the place and had little skeletons hanging from his branches; and a family of what I first thought were more zombies. However, I soon found out they were corpses. It would've been pretty cool to be staying in a place like this if everyone there hadn't acted so hostile towards me.

I soon met my uncle Jack Skellington. He was unlike any skeleton I'd ever seen. The first thing that I noticed about him was his height. He was pretty tall. Taller than Dr. Strauss even, who was about six foot five. Jack was probably around seven foot five. I could tell because I reached up to about halfway of the upper part of his legs. He also wore a black pinstriped suit with a bat bowtie. He was actually pretty good-looking for a skeleton, and I would soon find out that he was also uncommonly kind. When I first met him, he greeted me in a very welcoming manner. He even hugged me, which was a little awkward. I then met Zero, Jack's ghost dog. He was a very good dog and extremely cute. So cute, in fact, that he gave me just about a thousand kisses on the face when I first met him. I eventually got settled, and as I looked down from the window in Jack's room, which had an amazing view of Halloween Town, I knew then and there that this place was my new home. I took a deep breath and told myself that I'd better start getting use to it.

And it was pretty hard getting use to it, at first. I soon learned that Halloween Town was in charge of putting on a spectacular performance for Halloween each year, so there was a lot of work to do in order to prepare for it. Not that I had a problem with that; I enjoyed helping out with Halloween as much as I could. I was even given the job to track how well we did on each Halloween, though it's not all that fun when people are continuously watching you with a judgemental look in their eyes. I eventually found out why everyone in Halloween Town was treating me like I had some kind of contagious disease: it was because they were suspicious of Jack's and my relationship. And I could kind of see where they were coming from. How could a robotic-puppet like me be related to the Pumpkin King? I finally told Jack about it, and he admitted that he was aware of this, as well. He told me that the people of Halloween Town just needed to get use to me and that even though neither of us knew how we were related, we were still uncle and nephew, and that was all that mattered. I took in Jack's words of wisdom, but was still unsure. I remember lying awake at night, praying to God that the people of the town would see me as an equal. Another thing I had to get use to was how the people ate. It was hard for me to enjoy my food. Although they had a convenient store with regular food items in the town that they rarely used, I still had to sit next to Jack and watch him eat food that looked like it had just been pulled from of the trash. One other thing that I had to get used to was the town being so macabre. I knew, of course, it was because these guys were Halloween creatures, but having to endure the fact that there was a guillotine in the middle of town square and the fact that Jack had an electric chair in his room was a little unsettling. I eventually found out that they just used the guillotine for cutting pumpkins and that the electric chair in Jack's room was just for decoration, though I did use it sometimes to recharge my batteries (as long as Jack was around, of course). Also, I had to get use to the slang of the town. Like whenever someone said, "That was horrible" when something good happened, they really meant that it was great (and I still have yet to perfect that).

After some time, though, people started to notice some similarities between me and Jack, and so did I: we were both brave, sympathetic, swift, and agile, although I had more of a ninja-type swiftness going on and Jack had a sort of ballerina-gracefulness, which meant that I was more awesome. And because of that, the people of the town began to treat me more kindly. Also, Jack and I had formed a kind of bond with each other. He became more than just an uncle; he became like a father to me. Since Geppetto kicked me out, I figured Jack was doing everything in his power to make sure that I received that love, which I am very grateful for. We also became something like brothers. I say this because we would sometimes get into arguments about silly things, whether it was me having the volume up too loud on the TV as I played my video games or the fact that I did some late night reading. (I still have the ole mischief-maker in me). We also would sometimes get into physical fights, but we would make up for them later.

It wasn't until my first Halloween that I had received the town's full acceptance. I decided to take up the role as the Possessed Puppet (wearing my old clothes which I dyed dark gray), and Jack had been teaching me how to scare properly. So by that time, I felt ready. After a riveting performance, everyone cheered for both me and Jack.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

That's how I got to where I am. Nowadays, I live happily in Halloween Town with my uncle and everyone knows who I am. What would you expect if you were the nephew of the Pumpkin King? I like the attention. But something strange has been going on with Jack. For the past few weeks, I've noticed that he's not his usual happy self. He always looks sad and has become kind of reclusive. True, he gave his usual town meetings about what we were going to do for Halloween this year and he would check up with everyone in town on how they were doing, but whenever he was alone, he always looked as if he were upset about something, and he had become less talkative. I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but I felt like if I did, it would only make him feel worse. It wasn't until that Halloween when I found out what was bothering him.

Once again, we had another fascinating (or as Jack described it "horrible") performance. Our scaring ranks weren't that bad either. We got an eight-hundred and five ranking. (If we'd gotten to one-thousand, that would've been amazing). I'd gotten my share of compliments from everyone, but after awhile, I stepped out to let Jack take in some of the glory. As I sat on a nearby wall watching the awards being handed out to everyone, I noticed that Jack had slipped away from the festivities. I used my tail to propel myself down from the wall (another thing that the people at The Academy programmed me with) and landed down right next to Jack.

"Another great Halloween, eh Jack?" I said, sighing happily.

Jack didn't respond. And, once again, there was that sad look on his face that he was always wearing nowadays. I don't know what made me do it, but something inside of me was urging me to finally ask Jack what was wrong. So I did.

"Are you alright?" I asked. "You're acting strangely upset…. Actually, you've been acting that way for the past few weeks. Is everything OK?"

Jack looked at me for a moment, as if he was deciding on whether or not to tell me. Finally, he said, "Umm… let's go somewhere where we'll be alone."

"OK," I piped merrily.

As we neared the town gate, we walked by the Nightmare Band who were, once again, playing their awesome music. When we walked by, Jack tipped them, but in a sad manner.

"Nice work, Bone Daddy," said the saxophonist.

I giggled at Jack being called "Bone Daddy".

"Yeah, I guess so," Jack called back as we passed through the town gate. "Just like last year. And the year before that… and the year before that."

We eventually made it to the graveyard. My eyes casted around at the place. It was a good thing that the full moon was always out, because if it wasn't, everything would've been pitch black. It didn't help that the ground was as black as tar. Oh well. Anyway, there were graves of all shapes and sizes, and some even had strange-looking statues on top of them. As we walked along the path, Jack stopped by a grave that looked like a dog house with a little cross on top of it. The name inscribed on the grave read _Zero_. This was Zero's special sleeping place. Jack patted his leg and Zero came floating out of the ground, happy to see his best friend (and me, of course).. We walked a little bit more and then stopped by a grave with a gargoyle on it. Jack laid his elbow onto the grave and put his hand on his chin, as if he were contemplating something. I jumped up to the grave and sat in front of the gargoyle.

"So," I said in a what I'd hoped to be a curious voice, "what's up?"

Then, without warning, Jack broke into song.

 _There are few who'd deny that what I do, I am the best_

 _For my talents are renowned far and wide_

Jack then snuck behind the grave for one reason or another, and I had to crane my neck back to get a good look at where he was.

 _When it comes to surprises in the moonlit night,_

 _I excel without ever even trying_

This I agreed to. Jack was pretty good at what he did. Then, Jack suddenly jumped over to some gravestones and began balancing gracefully on top of them. I propelled over to keep up with him. Even though Jack didn't look it, what with his long legs, he was incredibly fast, kind of like me.

 _With the slightest little effort of my ghostlike charm_

 _I have seen grown men give out a shriek_

He then jumped off the gravestones and landed between two very tall graves, about as tall as him, with one of them looking like the horse on a chess game and the other like that guy in _The Scream_ painting.

 _With the wave of my hand_

 _And a well placed moan,_

 _I have swept the very bravest of their feet._

Once again, I had to agree with this. But then, Jack's face turned sad.

 _Yet year after year,_

Jack walked over to a frowning tombstone and put his arm around it.

 _It's the same routine_

 _And I grow so weary of the sound of screams_

 _And I, Jack, the Pumpkin King, have grown so tired_

 _Of the same old thing_

What? So _that's_ why Jack had been so upset? He'd grown tired of Halloween? But… he'd always love Halloween. When did _this_ happen?

I then followed Jack up to Spiral Hill, which was probably the greatest look-out point in all of Halloween Town (besides Jack's room, of course). There, you had an amazing view of both the graveyard _and_ Halloween Town. There, I listened while Jack continued to lament.

 _Oh somewhere deep inside of these bones,_

 _An emptiness began to grow._

 _There's something out there far from my home_

 _A longing that I've never known_

Pity began forming inside of me like a knot in my belly. Poor guy. I hadn't known that this had been gnawing at him this hard. He then continued.

 _I'm the Master of Fright, and a demon of light_

 _And I'll scare you right out of your pants_

I watched as Jack magically made the lights in some nearby jack-o-lanterns light up.

 _To a guy in Kentucky,_

 _I'm Mr. Unlucky_

 _And I'm known throughout England and France_

 _And since I am dead_

 _I can take off my head_

 _To recite Shakespearean quotations_

 _No animal nor man_

 _Can scream like I can_

 _With the fury of my recitations_

Again, I agreed with that. Then, Jack became sad again.

 _But who here would ever understand_

 _That the Pumpkin King with the skeleton grin_

 _Would tire of his crown if they only understood_

 _He'd give it all up_

 _If he only could_

Jack then turned his head towards the graveyard for an unknown reason, and I decided to follow suit. But as I did so, I thought I saw someone hiding behind the frowning tombstone. I didn't get a good look at who it was, but I did see that they had red hair. I didn't have time to ponder who it was because Jack then when back to singing.

 _Oh there's that empty place in my bones_

 _That calls out for_

 _Something unknown_

The hill's spiral began to uncoil as Jack, Zero and I began walking down it.

 _The fame and praise come year after year_

 _Does nothing for these empty tears_

We then crossed a fallen tree, which served as a bridge into the nearby forest. Once we had entered, I decided that I should probably say something to make Jack feel better.

"Hey, it's OK, uncie," I said, patting his bony hand. "I'm here for ya."

"Uncie?" Jack said, sounding confused.

"What?" I questioned. "I can't call you that? Is there some law or something that says I'm not allowed to call you that?"

"No, no; I didn't mean that," Jack said quickly. "It's just, I've never heard you call me that before. In fact, why don't you ever call me _Uncle_ Jack?"

"Because I don't want to," I answered. "I like calling you Jack."

Jack shrugged his shoulders. I then decided to continue on with what I was saying before.

"You know Jack, I kind of understand where you're coming from," I reflected, hoping that my empathy would cheer him up. "Being all burned out about Halloween and such. It happens to me every year. I always stress out about my act. I'm always worried that I'm going to pull something or break an arm or whatever."

"What do you do about it?" Jack asked. He almost sounded hopeful.

"Meh, I just kinda let it play out," I answered smiling satisfyingly.

Jack's faced suddenly became puzzled, and then I realized that _that_ didn't seem to do what I was hoping it would do for Jack.

"That didn't help at all, did it?" I asked embarrassingly.

"Nope," Jack said.

I sighed hopelessly and hung my head. "Sorry," I mumbled.

"It's OK, Pinocchio," Jack said, patting my back reassuringly. "You tried."

We then continued to walk. I soon took Jack's hand, hoping that this physical contact would bring him _some_ comfort

Hours later, we were still trudging through the forest, and I had begun to become very tired. Zero then started barking like he wanted to play.

"No, Zero," Jack said, holding up his hand to stop his dog from woofing. "Not now. I'm not in the mood."

Zero barked again, more pleading this time. Jack stopped and finally gave in.

"Oh, all right," Jack said. He reached into his suit and there was a loud _crack_. He then pulled out a bone. He must have taken it from his rib.

"Here you go, boy," Jack encouraged Zero, holding the bone up in the air. He threw it behind him, and Zero went to fetch it. He eventually found it and brought it back happily to his master. I smiled at Zero's cuteness for having found his prize.

We then continued on walking. As we did, my eyes continued to droop shut, and I had to immediately snap them back open. I was practically falling asleep as we walked on. This happened again two more times before Jack noticed.

"You OK?" he asked.

"Wha-Yeah, I'm okay," I yawned. "I'm just really tired."

My eyes, once again, began to droop, and I snapped them back open. I groaned. What I wouldn't give to be back in Halloween Town right now, asleep in my comfy bed by the window

Jack sighed and said sympathetically, "All right, get on my back."

I felt relieved that Jack had taken pity on me. He squatted down with his back to me. I staggered toward Jack and put my arms around his neck. Jack put his arms under my legs and hoisted me onto his back.

"Comfortable?" he asked.

I nodded. He then continued to walk, and a few seconds later, I'd fallen asleep.

 _Author's Note:_

 _Hi everyone. Sorry I didn't leave a note in the prologue. This is my first fanfic so I'm still getting use to how things go around here. And since this is my first one, please be nice in your comments about what I write, and please be patient with how long I put these up. I'm going to be putting these up chapter by chapter, so yeah. Have a nice day and enjoy._


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I dreamed that Jack and I were being attacked by giant caterpillars who looked like evil, secret agents, and that Jack and I had been turned into ninjas. Luckily, we were able to fight them off. It was AWESOME! But then, outside of my dreams, I heard Jack's voice say, "Where are we?"

I jerked awake. I was still riding on Jack's back, and it was then that I realized we had gone even deeper into the forest. I wiped off the drool from my mouth and propelled down off Jack's back and landed next to Zero. When I looked ahead of us, I saw that we were walking towards what looked like a circle of seven trees.

"It's someplace new," Jack observed.

A sudden unpleasant feeling began forming in my stomach. Something didn't feel right. What _was_ up ahead? Zero barked nervously and backed away a few inches.

"Yeah, I'm not sure about this either, Zero," I said skittishly. But I decided that if Jack was going to see what it was, then I was going in, too. I advanced towards him.

"What is this?" Jack asked as we began to cross into the inner part of the circle.

"Whoa," I breathed, my eyes widening. It was then the trees' secret was revealed.

Each of seven trees had what seemed to be a door on it, and each door was a different shape. There was a door that had a heart on it, one with a four-leafed clover, another with a turkey, one that had a firecracker on it, one that had a jack-o-lantern, and one with an Easter egg on it. When I saw the Easter egg, I suddenly realized that these doors each represented a different holiday: Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, Halloween, and Easter. It _was_ amazing, but I still didn't understand why all these doors were here. I looked up at Jack to see that he was looking at the doors in a curious manner as well. His curiousness eventually turned to puzzlement, and then what I thought looked like indifference. I figured that since Jack was starting to become bored, now would be a good time to coax him into going back to Halloween Town.

"Well, there's nothing else here," I said hastily. "Let's get back to Halloween To-"

Jack suddenly gasped, and I then saw what had caught his attention. It was another holiday door. This one had an evergreen tree on it with little multicolored balls on them. This one must have been for Christmas. Even though it was very pretty, something urged me to convince Jack to start heading home.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that's nothing," I said quickly. I also wanted to make myself sound like I wasn't the slightest interested to find out what the deal was with that door. "C'mon, Jack. Let's get going. C'mon." I whistled and started clapping my hands. "Here boy!" I called.

But Jack didn't come. He just stood there, staring at the door. Then, he started moving towards it as if he were on wheels.

"Uh, Jack?" I said, trying to get in front of him. "Hello, Jack! Anyone in there?" I jumped up and waved my hand in front of Jack's face. I then noticed the expression on his face. It was both happy and mesmerized. I had seen that look before. And then it hit me. I looked over at the Christmas door and back at Jack. A nauseous, panicked feeling exploded in my stomach.

"Oh no," I said, starting to freak out. "I know that look. That's the look you get everytime you come up with something new for Halloween. I don't like this! No, don't do it! DON'T DO IT JACK! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO ME, MAN! NOOOOOOO!"

I grabbed onto his left hand, buried my feet into the ground, and began trying to pull Jack away from the door. Unfortunately, Jack wriggled his hand out of mine, and I fell to the ground. When I looked up, I saw that Jack had his hand on the doorknob. I closed my eyes and flinched, preparing myself for whatever was to come cascading out of that door. But after a few minutes, nothing happened. I opened my eyes to see Jack looking into the door. I padded forward on all fours to get a closer look. Inside the door was just a black nothingness. I was as confused as Jack was, but also relieved that there was nothing there. We both turned around to Zero (who had floated over to us). Jack shrugged at him. I began to feel somewhat pitious towards Jack's disappointment, but then remembered that I had to get him back home.

"Come on, Jack," I sighed heavily. "Let's go home."

Suddenly, I felt a cold gust of wind coming out from nowhere. I looked behind me to find that is was coming from within the door. It started pulling me towards the opening. I looked over to see that it was pulling Jack in, too. I tried my best to escape from the wind, but it was too strong. Something hard hit the back of our legs. Both Jack and I yelled, and then - we fell.

I closed my eyes, afraid to look at what we had gotten ourselves into if I opened them. The wind was still blowing, this time, even harder. It felt like I was free falling. After a few moments, I bravely opened my eyes. I _was_ free falling. I took a look around at where we were. It looked like a pale blue vortex with a bunch of tiny, white sparkly things flying all over the place. I looked to my right to find Jack falling alongside me. He looked over at me with an expression that meant that he didn't know what to do. Not knowing what else to do, we both screamed. I wondered how long we would be stuck like this when suddenly, there was a bright flash of light.

I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by something that looked white and powdery. It also felt cold. I began moving my hands, but all I touched was something that felt like a cold wall. I then realized that I'd gotten my head stuck in some snow. Had the door teleported us to Antarctica? I then pulled my head out, only to discover that I had a large chunk of snow in my mouth. I spat it out and looked around for Jack. Luckily, he had landed right next to me. While he shook off his dizziness, I looked around at where we were. It appeared to be some sort of winter wonderland. I was starting to think that we _had_ landed in Antarctica when something caught mine (and Jack's) eye.

"WHOA!" I exclaimed in amazement.

Right down below us, in a small valley, was a small, colorful village. Lights were attached to every house, and I could see that there were train tracks that went around the outer part of the village. Right in the center was what looked like a huge Christmas tree, just like the one on the door. Then, it hit me, again. This town must be solely dedicated to the holiday of Christmas, just like how Halloween Town was to its holiday. Then, in the distance I saw a red building with a bunch of windows and a tower rising up in the middle. It was one of the most amazing sites I'd ever seen. It even beat my amazement when I had traveled around the world. There was a sudden _flump_ sound. I down to my left to see that Jack's hand had sunk into the snow. When he pulled it out, he had a handful of snow. He then started eating it (which I had seen coming from a mile away). He then went back to observing the town, and I followed suit. We saw a little train with toys in its carts riding along on the train tracks. Then we saw a bunch of kids skating around the Christmas tree (the tree must have been on a pond). I realized that Jack had gotten up on his feet to get a better look at the town. But then, he lost his balance and flipped onto his back. He started sliding down the snow-laden hill.

"Jack!" I yelled as he went sliding down. I got on all fours and started running after him. When we got to the bottom of the hill, Jack slid inside a giant snow pile. I ran on top of it.

"Jack!" I called into the snow, hoping that my uncle could hear me. "Are you OK? Jack!"

I leaned closer to the snow. Then, without warning, Jack's head popped out of the snow, and he, once again, burst into song.

 _What's this? What's this?_

Jack's whole body flew out of the ground while I was thrown backwards and, once again, landed head-first into the snow. If this went on for much longer, I was skiving off. I pulled my head out of the snow, spat out the snow that had gotten in my mouth, and look around for Jack. I spotted him standing next to a snowman and ran over to him like a dog. I also noticed that he was still singing.

 _I can't believe my eye, I must be dreaming_

 _Wake up Jack_

 _This isn't fair!_

 _What's this?_

I heard some singing (besides Jack's) nearing us. I looked over to see three little things that looked like elves riding toward us on a sleigh. Jack took the hat off the snowman and its nose. He took off some of the rocks of its face to make them look like buttons and removed its arms as well. He then stepped inside the body of the snowman, put on the hat, and took hold of the umbrella it was holding. He motioned for me to climb onto his back, which I did. I wrapped my arms and legs around the upper part of the body as the elves rode past. Jack continued to sing.

 _What's this? What's this?_

 _There's something very wrong._

 _What's this?_

 _There's people singing songs._

Jack leaned over to get a closer look and I peeked over his shoulder to see, as well. Suddenly, more elves appeared, but these were riding what looked like a wind-up polar bear.

 _What's this?_

Jack quickly went back into position and I hid behind him, once more.

 _The streets are alive with little creatures laughing_

 _Everybody seems so happy_

 _Have I positively gone daffy?_

 _What is this?_

Jack started bouncing after the elves on the polar bear. I had to hold on tight in order to keep from falling off. Jack then shot up into the air. I yelled and quickly grabbed hold of his shoulders.

 _What's this?_

We landed on top of a lamppost and Jack looked over to see some elf kids having a snowball fight. Not wanting to be too much weight on my uncle's back, I propelled myself off and hovered right next to him. I looked over his shoulder at the kids.

 _There's children throwing snowball instead of throwing heads_

 _They're busy building toys_

 _And absolutely no one's dead_

Jack then climbed down from the lamppost, and I landed right next to him. He pulled down a string of multi-colored light and held them up to his eyes.

 _There's frost in every window_

 _Oh, I can't believe my eyes_

 _And in my bones I feel the warmth that's coming from inside_

Jack backed up to a wall of a house and slid down it, completely satisfied.

 _Oh, look! What's this?_

Jack turned around to a nearby window. I walked towards it to get a look myself. Inside were two more elves, standing underneath mistletoe.

 _They're hanging mistletoe._

 _They kiss?_

 _Why that looks so unique._

 _Inspired!_

Jack moved over to another window nearby, and I followed.

 _They're gathering around to hear stories_

 _Roasting chestnuts on a fire._

 _What's this?_

The elves were, indeed, gathered around and telling stories. Then, another thing caught our eyes. Jack wiped away the fog on the window to get a better look.

 _What's this?_

 _In here_

 _They've got a little tree._

 _How queer!_

 _And who would ever think and why?_

 _They're covering it with tiny little things_

 _They've got electric lights on strings_

Jack then started climbing up onto the roofs of the houses, and I had to propel myself to him in order to keep up. This was all starting to become very tiring.

 _And there's a smile in everyone_

 _So now correct me if I'm wrong._

Jack landed onto a window, and I propelled right next to him.

 _This looks like fun, this looks like fun._

 _Oh, could it be I've got my wish?_

 _What's this?_

Jack leaned over to look inside the window. He then opened it and crawled inside like a spider monkey. I peeked inside to see what he was digging his nose into this time. Inside, there were a bunch of more elf kids, but they were all fast asleep and tuck snugly into their beds. I prayed that Jack's excitedness wouldn't wake any of them up

 _Oh my! What now?_

 _The children are asleep_

 _But look-_

Jack glanced under the bed.

 _There's nothing underneath_

 _No ghouls_

 _No witches here to scream and scare them or ensnare_

 _Only little cozy things secure inside their dreamland._

Jack quietly walked over to one of the beds and rested his head dreamily on top of one of the sleeping elf kid's heads. I thought he looked like a complete dork. Then-

 _What's this?_

Jack quickly slipped out of the room and through the window. Once outside, he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me off towards the red brick building with the tower in the middle. He climbed up to one of the ledges and looked inside all of the windows. As I propelled behind him, I was starting to run out of breath. It never occurred to me that Jack could move _this_ fast. But he was excited. So, either way, I was pretty much up a creek having to continuously follow him like crazy all over the dang place.

 _The monsters are missing and the nightmares can't be found_

 _And in their place there seems to be good feeling all around_

 _Instead of screams, I swear I can hear music in the air._

Jack placed the handle of the umbrella onto a nearby garland and ziplined over to a window with cakes and pies on display.

 _The smell of cakes and pies are absolutely everywhere._

When I propelled over to Jack, I was completely winded.

"Hey, Jack," I panted. "Do you think you could slow down for a mo-"

Jack let go of the umbrella handle and started falling toward the ground. I wasn't worried; I knew that he would make a graceful landing, but I was annoyed that he was still running around as if he were on a sugar high.

"OH, COME ON!" I yelled. I sighed exasperatedly, shook my head, and then followed him.

He had landed on the side of a carousel.

 _The sights! The sounds!_

 _They're everywhere and all around_

 _I've never felt so good before._

Jack jumped off the carousel and landed onto the train that was riding nearby. I flew right up next to him.

 _This empty place inside of me is is filling up_

 _I simply cannot get enough._

 _I want it, oh! I want it, oh!_

 _I want it for my own._

He jumped off the train and started riding on a snowboard that was sitting nearby, with me following behind.

 _I've got to know, I've got to know_

 _What is the place that I have found!_

 _What is this!_

Jack jumped off the snowboard and began to start running again, but then ran into a pole. He hit is so hard that he fell backwards and into the snow.

"Jack!" I screamed, dashing over to him.

He pulled his head out of the ground.

"Jack, are you OK?" I asked urgently.

He didn't seem to hear me. Instead, his focus was on the sign above us. I looked up to see what it said.

"Christmas Town?" Jack read thoughtfully. "Hmmm."

A sudden whistling sound from behind made us whirl around. Jack quickly grabbed me and pulled me behind the pole. Just as soon as we had finished hiding, a man's shadow appeared, along with the sound of laughter. Jack peeked from behind the pole and looked at the man's shadow curiously.

"Oh no," I said in a hoarse voice. Whatever Jack was thinking, I knew that it _couldn't_ be good.

A few moments later, the man came into view. He was a very fat, very short man who wore a red coat and had a long white beard running down his face. I knew, of course, that this man was Santa Claus, but there was no way that I was going to tell Jack that. Whatever all this was, I knew that we had gotten in too deep, and it was high time that Jack and I went home.

An elf came running up to Santa.

"Everything seems to be going according to schedule, Santa Claus," the elf reported.

"Wonderful," Santa said delightfully. "Thank you, Frank. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

The elf squealed with delight and ran off. Santa then turned around and went back into his workshop.

For a few moments, there was silence between Jack and me.

"Sandy Claws?" Jack said thoughtfully.

I looked at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief. Had my uncle really just called him that?

" _Santa Claus_ ," I corrected him. "And I think it's high time we headed home."

I got up and started walking away, but Jack grabbed me by the arm.

"Wait, Pinocchio," he said. "I want to do something first."

"OK, what?" I asked.

* * *

"Jack, _are you kidding me_?" I hissed. "This is stupid. We're going to get caught."

"No, we won't," Jack said reassuringly. "We'll be fine."

"' _Fine_ '?" I said incredulously. "Jack, you literally just went around to every store and stole at least _one_ item from each. Not to mentioned you picked up this piece of snow which is, undoubtedly, going to melt in a few minutes."

It was true. Jack had gone around to all the shops grabbing ahold of as much as he could. Now we were hiding in front of the big "Christmas Town" sign, getting ready to head back to Halloween Town. I was still surprised that even with us just standing here, we hadn't gotten caught.

"I'm _not_ stealing," Jack said. "I'm just… gathering evidence."

"Oh yeah, sure, like that's gonna make a huge difference," I said in a low, sarcastic tone. "Can you explain to me why we're _stealing_ this snowmobile?"

"If you say one more word about me 'stealing' something, young man, you're grounded," Jack said sternly. Then, a few moments later, he added, "And we're not stealing this snowmobile, either. We're _borrowing_ it."

I rolled my eyes in disbelief.

"I saw that!" Jack called. "And if you're going to be that way, why don't you make yourself useful and load the sack onto the snowmobile."

Sighing grudgingly, I did as I was told. I knew now it would be useless to argue with Jack because now he had gone into alpha wolf mode. Once I had hauled the enormous pack onto the back of the snowmobile, I climbed up and sat on it. There would be no room for me in the front because Jack would be driving; and he and I were both rail thin. Jack clambered into the front seat and started up the engine. Within seconds, we were cruising our way out of Christmas Town and back towards the snowy hills that we had landed in. Despite the fact that this was his first time driving one, Jack was able to control the snowmobile relatively well. But I decided not to dwell on that too much. We soon arrived at the exact spot where we had ended up when we had gone through the door.

"So, now what?" I asked.

"Just wait," Jack told me.

From the moment we began our journey home, I wondered how we would _actually_ get out of this place. Was there some other secret portal that we had to go through to get back to Halloween Town? Would I have to use my teleporter to get us there? My questions were then answered when a blinding light appeared out of nowhere.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I saw that we had arrived at the center of the circle of trees. Zero, who we had apparently left behind, barked happily.

"See," Jack said, as if he had just gotten through a tiring lecture on teaching me that two plus two equals four.

I looked around and shrugged my shoulders, deciding to just go with the flow.

"Now what?" I asked again.

"Now, we return this stuff to Halloween Town," Jack said proudly as he turned on the engine again and began driving us towards the forest path.

The queasy feeling of uneasiness had returned to my stomach again, but this time, it felt even worse. How was everyone in Halloween Town going to react to all the stuff that Jack had brought? I very well remembered how, during my early days of living in Halloween Town, the people were a little confused about how my Pokemon worked. At first, they had thought that my Pokemon would be very good at scaring people, but I had to explain to them that they weren't _that_ type of Pokemon. They eventually understood that and accepted them for what they were, but I was starting to have a sickening feeling about what they were going to say about all the Christmas stuff. With that in mind, I knew that there was nothing I could really do. The only thing I could think of doing was offering a smile, even if it was fake.

We emerged from the forest and into the graveyard. Once we had gotten through the graveyard, we took the path that led back to the town with Zero in the lead. When the town gate came into view, Zero barked, happy to finally be back home. Once the gates opened, we were greeted by excited citizens. They were all running towards the snowmobile, happy to see that their king and I were back. Jack waved at them as we passed. We then stopped in front of the Mayor's hearse.

"Where _have_ you both been?" he asked anxiously.

Apparently, everyone been worried sick about Jack's and my brief disappearance.

"Call a town meeting, and I'll tell everyone all about it," Jack said. He seemed very anxious to show everyone what he had found. I decided that I should say something so that I wouldn't look suspicious.

"Yay, Jack has something new to share with us," I said through my teeth. I was still smiling painfully.

"When," the Mayor asked, his two-sided face turning from happy to worried.

"Immediately," Jack commanded.

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

 _Hey guys. Man, this chapter was hard to do. Glad I got it done. Hope you enjoy, and remember to be nice in your comments._


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Pinocchio, could you set these presents around the Christmas tree?" Jack walked onto the stage with his arms full of Christmas presents.

"Sure," I said through my teeth. I was still smiling. I had been smiling all day. It was starting to become painful. Hey, it was the only thing I could do so that people wouldn't become suspicious about me not being totally cool with this whole "Jack Discovering Christmas" thing. Also, I didn't want to disappoint Jack.

We were at the Town Hall setting up the stage for the meeting. Jack had put up a Christmas tree and a backdrop of what Christmas Town had looked like. I was still surprised that he was able to get all this stuff from Christmas Town without anyone noticing. Throughout the whole time we were getting ready, I felt sick with uneasiness, but I knew that all I could really do was just keep that stupid smile on my face.

I set the last present in place.

"All done?" Now Jack was the one smiling stupidly.

"Yep."

"Good," Jack said delighted. "Now, you remember what you're supposed to do, right?"

"Get the stools from the back stage and bring out the two things along with them when you say so." My cheek muscles were starting to hurt.

"Wonderful!" Jack paused for a moment. I heard it too. The sounds of people coming in and making themselves comfortable for the gathering. "And it sounds like everyone is here!"

Jack rushed off to stage left, and I climbed up onto a nearby stool, still smiling. As I waited for Jack to open the curtain, I prayed to God for one thing which was for things not to get too uncomfortable. A few uneventful moments later, the curtain finally opened. Everybody in the town had arrived and upon seeing the Christmas stuff, they gasped in wonder.

"Pinocchio, Exhibit A," Jack commanded. That was my cue.

"Yes, sir," I said. I walked off to stage right, gathered another stool, a Christmas present, and brought them back out. I set the stool down and placed the present on top of it. I then climbed back onto my stool. Jack picked up the present to show to everyone and, once again, started singing. (He must have started while I was waiting because I couldn't hear anything on the other side of the curtain).

 _This is a thing called a present_

 _The whole thing starts with a box-_

The citizens then joined in.

 _A box?_

 _Is it steel?_

 _Are there locks?_

 _Is it filled with a pox?_

 _A pox? How delightful a pox_

 _Oh crap_ , I thought. _It's happening. They're being macabre about this_. I could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on my forehead. Jack then interjected.

 _If you please…_

 _Just a box with bright colored paper_

 _And the whole thing's topped with a bow._

 _A bow?_

 _But why?_

 _How ugly._

 _What's in it? What's in it?_

 _That's the point of the thing_

 _Not to know._

 _It's a bat!_

 _Will it bend?_

 _It's a rat!_

 _Will it break?_

 _Perhaps it's the head I found in the lake._

 _Listen now, you don't understand_

 _That's not the point of Christmas Land_

This wasn't going well.

"Pinocchio, Exhibit B," Jack yelled, snapping me out of my state of panic.

"Yes, sir," I said again. I walked off to stage right, grabbed another stool, and this time, a stocking. I brought them out. I put the stool down and set the stocking on top. Jack then walked over to it as I sauntered back to my seat.

 _Now pay attention._

 _We pick up an oversized sock_

 _And hang it like this on the wall..._

 _Oh yes. Does it still have a foot?_

 _Let me see, let me look!_

 _Is it rotted and covered with gook?_

 _Uh, let me explain_

 _There's no foot inside, but there's candy_

 _Or sometimes it's filled with small toys-_

 _Small toys?_

 _Do they bite?_

 _Do they snap?_

 _Or explode in the sack._

 _Or perhaps they just spring out and scare girls and boys!_

 _What a splendid idea!_

 _This Christmas sounds fun_

 _I fully endorse it._

 _Let's try it at once!_

Oh mama! This was all going downhill.

 _Everyone please, now not so fast_

 _There's something here that you don't quite grasp._

The townspeople began to grumble at their misunderstanding of what all this was. Jack then walked over to me.

"What do you think?" He inquired quietly. I knew now would be the perfect time for me to voice my feelings about this.

"To tell you the truth, Jack, I've _never_ been in a more awkward situation in my life," I said through my smiling teeth. "Except for when my nose grew, but even then it wasn't _this_ awkward."

"Then how come you're smiling?"

"Well, beforehand I was just trying to be nice, but now I think I've got the face freeze." It was true; my face was pretty much stuck in that idiotic smile.

"Here." Jack grabbed hold of my cheeks and started pulling them back and forth. This movement seemed to loosen the muscles in my face and enabled me to stop smiling.

"Better?" Jack let go of my face. I patted my cheeks in inspection.

"Yeah," I answered. "Thanks, man."

Jack then walked back over to his pedestal, and I heard him say, "Well, I may as well give them what they want."

It felt as though a stone had just dropped into my stomach. Whatever Jack was planning next, I knew I wouldn't like it. The lights in the Town Hall dimmed, and Jack continued to sing.

 _And the best, I must confess, I have saved for the last_

 _For the ruler of this Christmas Land_

 _Is a fearsome king with a deep mighty voice_

 _Least that's what I've come to understand_

 _And I've also heard it told that he's something to behold_

 _Like a lobster_

 _Huge and red_

 _When he sets out to sleigh with his rain gear on_

 _Carting bulging sacks with his big great arms_

 _That is, so I've heard it said_

 _And on a dark, cold night_

 _Under full moonlight_

 _He flies into a fog_

 _Like a vulture in the sky_

 _And they call him Sandy Claws…_

The crowd cheered and applauded for Jack's awesomeness (or, in my mind, stupidness). The lights turned back on and the curtains closed. Once they did Jack wrapped up his song.

 _Well, at least they're excited_

 _But they don't understand_

 _That special kind of feeling_

 _In Christmas Land._

Jack picked up a snow globe with a snowman in it, shook it, and put it on the table. As he leaned over to observe it, I heard him quietly finish

 _Oh well._

I felt as though I'd received an electric shock. I began feeling both shock and anger. Jack was just going to go with the town's misunderstanding of all this? Seriously! This was so irresponsible of him! But then I remembered all the pressure Jack was under at the moment. I sighed. I understood. This was the best he could do at the moment. I guess this was how things were going to be.

"Pinocchio." Jack's voice snapped me out of my contemplating mood. "Could you help me gather everything up."

"Umm… sure." I jumped off my stool and put it backstage. Jack and I gathered everything up, put it back in the giant sack and left.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I was awoken by something hard and heavy banging against my head.

"Ow! Hey!"

I looked over the side of my bed to see a large book lying on the floor. The cover read _A Christmas Carol_. I looked up to see Jack laying in his bed, a stack of what looked like a bunch of Christmas books sitting right next to him. A couple more lay scattered on the ground around him. Angry and annoyed, I got out of bed and walked over to Jack.

"Jack, what are you doing?" I said. "It's _three in the morning_."

"I'm trying to find out the true meaning of Christmas by reading these books," Jack said, not looking up.

Complete disbelief coursed through my body. Was Jack seriously _this_ stupid? But I knew that I couldn't lose my temper with him, especially not at this hour. I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes.

"Jack, you're not going to be able to find the true meaning of Christmas in these books," I explained, "nor through all these decorations." I pointed at the decorations that were scattered all over the room.

Jack finally tore his eyes away from the book he had and took a look around.

Finally, after a few silent moments, he said, "You're right, Pinocchio. There's got to be a logical way to explain this Christmas thing."

Pity suddenly began to form within me. He really wanted to find out the true meaning of Christmas.

"Y-You know, Jack, if you want, _I_ could explain it to you," I stammered. "I happen to know a little bit about the holiday and-"

I then stopped. Jack's face suddenly lit up. He reached behind him and pulled out yet another book from behind his pillow. I looked at the title. It read _The Scientific Method_.

"Uh, Jack," I said confused, "that's not what I meant."

"Not now, Pinocchio," Jack interrupted, waving his hand in front of me. "I'm very busy."

My mouth dropped open. Was Jack _really_ going there with me?

"But-but Jack!" I began. Jack again interrupted.

"Pinocchio, please I am very busy," Jack said angrily. "You shouldn't be up this late. Go back to bed."

"But," I started. Something told me that arguing with him right now would do no good. Defeated, I walked back over to my bed and climbed in. As I stared out the window, into the night sky, I pondered what had just happened. Jack wasn't listening to me. When did _that_ begin to happen? Jack had always listened to whatever I had to say. Why was he suddenly ignoring me? As I lay there in my sad state, I silently prayed to Jesus that this wouldn't continue. I hoped everything would go back to normal by tomorrow.

* * *

I awoke to the morning sun blazing its light throughout the room. I got out of bed, stretched, wiped the crud out of my eyes, and got dress. As I tightened the black belt on my gi, I looked over to see a note lying on Jack's bedside table. I picked it up and read.

 _Went out to Dr. Finkelstein's. Be back soon,_

 _Jack_

I frowned. Why would Jack need to go to Dr. Finkelstein's? However, the growling of my stomach interrupted my thoughts. Deciding that I would think about this matter later, I put the note down and went to have breakfast.

* * *

The mystery as to why Jack had to go to Dr. Finkelstein's was soon solved. That afternoon I was lying in bed reading _Lord of the Rings_. As I got to the part when Merry and Pippin first met the Ents, I heard a voice call from downstairs, "Zero! Pinocchio! I'm home!"

I put the book down just as Jack walked into the room. I also saw that he had his black briefcase with him. Why on earth did he have that? My question was quickly answered when he set it down on a nearby table and opened it. Inside were some beakers, a volumetric flask, a magnifying glass, some more flasks, and a microscope. I walked over to get a closer look.

"You went out to buy a chemistry set?" I observed. Then a random thought came into my mind. "Aw, man!" I groaned. "Are you gonna start homeschooling me?"

"No, this isn't for you," Jack said irritably. "I'm conducting a series of experiments in order to get to the true meaning of Christmas."

Once again, complete disbelief coursed through me. I still couldn't believe that Jack was _this_ stupid.

"Jack, I already told you, you're _not_ going to get to the true meaning of Christmas through science," I said exasperatedly.

"Not now, Pinocchio," Jack said waving his hand in front of me again. "I'm very busy."

"But, Jack!" I started, and just like the night before, Jack interrupted me.

"Pinocchio, please, I'm very busy," Jack said irritably. "Why don't you go over there and play _Mario Kart_ or whatever."

Shock flowed through me as if I had been struck by lightning. I could hardly believe what was happening. Jack was going to dive so deep into this whole Christmas thing that he wasn't even going to listen to what I had to say. I loved my uncle, but the way he was treating me, it kinda hurt.. My shock was quickly replaced with anger. All right then, if he was going to be that way, then I was going to have to take _my_ place in this game.

"You know what, Jack," I said in a would-be casual voice, while, at the same time, trying not to sound too smart alecky, "I think I'm just gonna hang out here and watch you do your experiments."

"Suit yourself," Jack said still not paying attention.

And thus began the long afternoon of having to watch Jack do his stupid Christmas experiments. The first experiment that he did was observing a holly berry under a microscope. This worked well, at first, until Jack zoomed in too close and, not only squished the berry, but destroyed the microscope as well.

"Wow," I said mockingly. "You didn't even think to read the instruction manual?"

Jack shushed me.

A few minutes later, Jack took a voltmeter, took some jumper cables, attached them to the test leads, and clipped on the other end of the cables to a metal beaker that was filled with water. Then he took a candy cane and dipped it into the water-filled beaker. Unfortunately, when he took the candy cane out, it had been reduced to what looked like a noodle.

"Fail!" I laughed.

Jack shushed me again.

Later, Jack had attempted to make one of those paper snowflake things, but ended up making one that looked like a spider. I didn't say anything this time because I knew Jack would smack me if I did. So, instead, I just chuckled at his screw up. Much later, Jack decided to cut open a teddy bear to observe the stuffing. By this time, I had gotten bored of watching him up close and personal so I decided to observe him from afar. It soon started to get dark and I was getting tired. Jack was now cracking one of those ornament balls into a water filled glass beaker over a bunsen burner As I sat turned around in a chair watching Jack do this pointless experiment, my fatigue began to get the best of me.

"He's still going at it?" I groaned to Zero, who was lying in his bed nearby. "He's been doing it for like seven hours."

My eyes began to droop and before I knew it, I fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I had a very strange dream. I dreamt that I was walking through a forest filled with Christmas trees. It _was_ very pretty, but then I saw Jack. He was observing a few of the trees. I tried calling to him, but he didn't seem to hear me. I decided to get a little closer, but when I did, the ground in front of me began to crack. A huge crevasse opened up and started pulling Jack away from me. Then, from out of nowhere, a giant taco came up and ate Jack. I'll be honest, that was more weird than traumatic. Right after that, I heard a very loud squeaking sound.

I opened my eyes and yelled. Daylight had come, at last. I looked down to see a little doll had landed in Zero's bed. I figured that's what had made the squeaking sound. I looked up to see what Jack was doing, and when I say that he had his head buried in one of the Christmas books _again_ I felt a stone of annoyance drop into my belly

"Is he still going at it?" I mumbled crossly.

I also noticed that Jack was singing again, and I caught on with what he was saying.

 _I've read the Christmas books so many times_

 _I know the stories and I know the rhymes_

 _I know the Christmas carols all my heart._

 _My skull's so full, it's tearing me apart!_

I got up out of my chair and walked over to Jack as he sat down at the bottom of the moving ladder. If he wasn't going to listen to what I had to say about all this, he should at least notice that I was awake.

 _As often as I've read them, something's wrong_

 _So hard to put my bony finger_

I walked over to Jack as he sat down at the foot of the moving ladder. When I reached him, Zero came over with something in his mouth. It was a self-portrait of Jack standing in the graveyard with a jack-o-lantern in his hand wearing what I liked to call his bad-butt look on his face. Jack took it and continued singing.

 _Or perhaps it's really not as deep as I've been led to think._

 _Am I trying much too hard?_

 _Of course ! I've been too close to see_

 _The answer's right in front of me!_

 _Right in front of me!_

I didn't know what was going on in Jack's mind at that moment, but I could tell that it wasn't good. He then climbed back onto the ladder and started riding it back and forth along the bookshelves.

 _It's simple really,_

 _Very clear,_

 _Like music drifting in the air_

 _Invisible but everywhere_

 _Just because I cannot see it_

 _Doesn't mean I can't believe it._

Jack jumped off the ladder, walked over to the Christmas tree and started dancing around with it. I had to admit Jack was kinda weirding me out a little bit.

 _You know, I think this Christmas thing is not as tricky as it seems._

 _And why should they have all the fun?_

 _It should belong to anyone!_

Jack grabbed hold of the string of lights and pulled them off the tree. He pulled so hard that a bunch of the ornaments when flying off. I jumped out of the way to avoid them crashing onto my foot.

 _Not anyone, in fact, but me!_

 _Why I could make a Christmas tree._

Jack electric slid over to the electric chair. He then threw the lights around the chair.

 _And there's no reason I can find_

 _I couldn't handle Christmas time!_

 _I bet I could improve it, too_

 _And that's exactly what I'll do!_

Jack pulled the lever that turned on the electric chair. Not only did that turn on, but the lights did too. Then they started _exploding_! Jack cackled with ecstasy. He walked over to the window and threw it open. When he did, he proclaimed to all of Halloween Town: "EUREKA! THIS YEAR, CHRISTMAS WILL BE _OURS_!"

I could hear the people of the town cheering for their king's brilliant idea. I stood there, stunned. I couldn't believe how Jack was acting. He was never this way before. Even when he thought up of something new for Halloween he was never this ecstatic. This was very unlike him; it was… _unnatural_. I backed away from my uncle. My initial instinct was to run away, but then something else came into my mind. I remembered how upset Jack had been about Halloween. How bummed out he was. I'd never seen him so sad before. I looked around at the Christmas stuff in the room then I looked back at Jack. It all this was really making him happy again. I guessed I had no choice. I would have to help Jack put on Christmas. I walked over to him and pulled on his sleeve. He looked down at me.

"You know what Jack," I said, " maybe you're right. If this is how are things now, then who am I to deny it. I'm sorry for not being supportive of you earlier. From now on, I promise I will help you in any way possible."

Jack smiled. "I'm glad you understand, Pinocchio," he said, patting me on the back.

"Yeah… sure," I said uncertainly. I still wasn't sure if I'd made the decision.

"In fact," Jack continued, leading me towards the stairs, "I _do_ have one thing in mind that you could do."

"Okay," I said curiously. "What?"


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Jack had put me in charge of keeping track of what everybody was doing for Christmas. It did make sense on account of my old job was keeping track of how scary our Halloweens were. So far, most of the monsters were in charge of just making toys while others got special jobs like making the sleigh. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. But it wasn't until that afternoon when things got _really_ interesting.

Jack had put the Vampire Brothers in charge of making some more toys.

"What kind of noise is _that_ for a baby to make?" one of them questioned after observing a baby doll that Jack gave to them.

"Perhaps it can be improved?" Jack asked.

"No problem," another said.

"Wonderful," Jack said happily as the Vampire Brothers left.

 _Vampire Brothers- making toys_ , I wrote down on the notepad I had.

Dr. Finklestein then rolled up onto the stage.

"Doctor, thank you for coming," Jack said delightedly. He turned around and picked up one of his Christmas books and flipped open to a certain page. The page contained a picture of Santa flying in his sleigh. "We need some of these." I leaned forward on my stool to see what he was pointing at. It was the reindeer.

"Hmm…. Their construction should be exceedingly simple, I think," the Doctor observed.

As I scribbled down Dr. Finklestein's objective, I heard the Mayor exclaim, "How horrible our Christmas will be."

My hand slid off the notepad, leaving a huge line on the paper from where I was writing. I felt a twinge of panic in my heart. Did the Mayor really just say, "How _horrible_ our Christmas will be"?

This was bad. This was really, really bad. The citizens were taking Christmas like _this_? I guess it did make sense after I remembered what had happened at the town meeting, which only made me feel worse. Just as I felt like I was about to have a nervous breakdown, Jack corrected to the Mayor, "No. How _jolly_."

I heaved a huge sigh of relief. For the first time in this whole Christmas-fiasco, Jack had done something right.

"Oh," the Mayor said in a put out voice, his face turning to its worried side. "How jolly our Christmas will be."

A moment later, something hit the Mayor's face, followed by a couple more objects. He looked around, growling angrily.

"What are _you_ doing here," the Mayor asked in a panicked voice.

I looked over to see the object of the Mayor's distress, and I felt as if a large stone had landed in my stomach. It was my three least favorite people in all of Halloween Town.

"Oh no," I groaned.

"Jack sent for us," said a little boy, wearing a devil costume.

"Specifically," said a little girl, wearing a witch costume.

"By name," said another boy, wearing a skeleton costume. They all then pulled off their masks.

"Lock."

"Shock."

"Barrel."

Yes, Lock, Shock and Barrel. The three trick-or-treaters of the town. However, they put more emphasis on the "trick" rather than the "treat". I hated those three with a passion. Not to mention I had a little score to settle with them. One day, shortly after I had arrived in Halloween Town, these three had decided it would be fun to set my Nintendo DS _on fire_. I was _not_ happy. I had spent half my allowance on that thing! Now, I was out to get revenge on those three little blisters. No, I wasn't going to kill them or anything. Just beat the crap out of them for what they'd done. Unfortunately, every time I would get the chance to, something else big would happen and my attempts would fail. But one of these days I was going to get them. But I had no idea why they were here or what Jack would want with them. He didn't favor them much, either, though not as much as I did.

"Jack! Jack!" the Mayor whispered into his megaphone. "It's Boogie's boys."

"Ah, Halloween's finest trick-or-treaters," Jack said.

I snorted. He got _that_ right.

"The job I have for you is top secret." he said, stooping down to be level with the three mistakes upon the world. "It requires craft, cunning, mist."

"And we thought you didn't like us, Jack," said Shock in a sickeningly gleeful manor.

"He _doesn't_ like you," I said flatly, but they didn't seem to hear.

"Absolutely no one is to know about it; not a soul," said Jack, and there was something like warning in his voice. "Now…"

I couldn't hear the rest of what Jack was saying because he was whispering the plan to them. I leaned forward so I could hear what they were talking about better,, and what I did hear made the old panic explode in my stomach again. This was _not_ good.

"And one more thing," Jack finally said, breaking the huddle. "Leave that no account Oogie Boogie _out_ of this." He said the last part so clear to the point that even I was silent for a few moments. Oogie Boogie was supposed to be the Boogie Man, as well as Jack's arch enemy, and I couldn't complain. The guy was a psycho and had attempted to take over the town several times. Luckily, Jack was able to stop him and had him locked away in a prison underneath Lock, Shock and Barrel's treehouse. But most unluckily, however, Lock, Shock and Barrel worked for the freak show, and if Jack was putting those three parasites in charge of, as he put it, "getting Santa out of the way," then there was no telling what they would do.

"Whatever you say, Jack," Barrel replied.

"Of course, Jack," Shock replied.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Jack," Lock replied.

They laughed annoyingly again. I then noticed that each of their right hands were behind their backs. I felt a pang of suspicion. As the three pranksters sidled off the stage, I said to Jack, "Are you sure it was a good idea putting them in charge of that?"

"I thought you said that you were going to be more accepting of my ideas," Jack reminded me.

"Oh yeah. Right." Little did Jack know that I was beginning to feel remorseful about this choice.

* * *

A little while later was when the second shocking thing happened. Jack had put the Nightmare Band in charge of the Christmas carols, and was currently showing them how to play "Jingle Bells".

"It goes something like this," said Jack. He played the first few notes of the song on actual jingle bells. I was amazed that he had hit all the notes correctly on the first try. Show off.

"How about it?" he asked. "Think you can manage?"

"A- one and a- two and a- three and a-" said the head from inside the bass.

The band repeated what Jack had played. I don't mean this in a bad way; the Nightmare Band is very talented, but when they attempted the song, I was nonplussed.

"You sure you're playing the right song," I said, "'cause it sounds like the 'Jingle Bells' just _died_!"

Jack gave me his _shut-up-now-or-else_ look. So I did.

"NEXT!" the Mayor called through his megaphone.

"Fantastic," said Jack gleefully, turning back to the band. He put the strip of jingle bells on one of the band member's back, perhaps for good fortune, while they exited the stage. "Now why don't you all practice on that, and we'll be in great shape."

 _Nightmare Band-Christmas carols_ , I scribbled down.

The next person to walk on stage was Sally, the ragdoll. She was created by Dr. Finklestein to be like his housekeeper or something like that. I don't really remember what, but she was pretty cool. I began writing her name down on the list.

"Sally," Jack said as she approached. "I need your help more than anyone."

"You certainly do, Jack," said Sally, though there was something unusual in her tone of voice. Was it worry? "I had the most terrible vision."

Once again, the stab of panic in my heart returned. Sally had had a bad vision? My feeling of worry made me push down so hard on my pencil that the lead broke off and hit the Mayor in head.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Mayor." I sharpened my pencil with the pencil sharpener inside the side of my head (another installment made by the Academy). I then went back to listening in on what Sally had to say.

"That's splendid," Jack said absentmindedly as he rifled through the chest full of Christmas stuff.

"No!" Sally said more urgently. "It was about your Christmas. There was smoke and fire-"

Smoke and fire! Jack's Christmas! Holy crap! What could all this mean?

"That's not my Christmas," Jack said, turning around to face her. " _My_ Christmas is filled with laughter and joy and this…." He had pulled out his self-portrait. However, there was something taped onto it. Jack flipped it over. "My Sandy Claws outfit." It was a picture of Jack in a the graveyard, which was snow-laden, wearing a Santa suit and holding a Christmas present in his hand. If felt a twinge of guilt because Jack had made me draw it. "I want you to make it."

"Jack, please listen to me," Sally said as if she were desperate for Jack to take in what she had to say. "It's going to be a disaster."

Disaster! Oh man! Could this get any worse!

"How could it be?" Jack said disbelievingly. "Just follow the pattern. This part's red. The trim is white."

Okay. Jack was _seriously_ not taking this in?

"It's a mistake, Jack," Sally said.

"Now don't be modest," said Jack. "Who else is clever enough to make my Sandy Claws outfit?"

"NEXT!" the Mayor called out again.

Jack gave the picture to Sally.

"I have every confidence in you," said Jack surefooted.

I looked after Sally as she began walking off the stage. Her face bore a look of deep worry. I felt completely numb with shock. Was all that true? Jack's Christmas was going to be a complete epic fail? Not to mention a dangerous one. I had to see for myself.

"Uh, Jack," I said, turning to him. "Could I use the bathroom for a moment?"

"Okay, but make it quick," Jack responded.

I leaped off the stool, and then, making sure that Jack wasn't looking, slipped behind the curtain. Sally was just about to leave the stage. I had to get her attention - quick.

"Sally," I hissed, hoping no one but her would hear me. " _Sally_."

Sally turned and began looking. I waved my hand to get her attention. Once she spotted me, I gestured for her to join me. She quickly snuck over and ducked inside with me.

"Yes, Pinocchio?" She looked puzzled.

"Is it true?" I asked desperately. "What you said to Jack about your vision. Is it true?"

Sally looked at me confused for a moment, then said slowly, "Yes."

"Oh man! This is bad. This is really, really bad." I put my hands on my head and started pacing, panicstricken.

"Why? What's wrong?"

I stopped. As nervous as I was, I knew I had to tell Sally. She was the only other one who didn't like this anymore than I did. I took a deep breath and turned to face her.

"Okay," I said, deciding to cut to the chase. "I totally agree with you on all this. I think Jack's plan is completely idiotic. But every time I try to say something about it, he doesn't listen."

"Seems as though we have something in common," murmured Sally.

"I know, right?" I chuckled. "And after hearing about your vision, that basically means we're truly up a creek." I sighed defeated. "And, unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it."

"Why not?" asked Sally.

A feeling of conflicting guilt began to make my stomach turn. "Because…." I hesitated, then continued, "Okay. Don't tell anyone about this, but Jack has been feeling pretty bummed out about doing Halloween lately, if you didn't know."

"I already knew," Sally said quickly.

"You did?" I said surprised.

"Yeah." replied Sally awkwardly. "I… accidentally overheard Jack lamenting in the graveyard on Halloween night. I wasn't stalking him or anything. I was just-"

"There by accident," I finished. "It's okay. I get it." I then continued with my confession. "And then he discovered Christmas and then this happened and, well… I felt really bad for him. So I decided to help him. But I still think this plan is reckless and stupid. Unfortunately, due to my weak decision, there's nothing I can do to stop Jack."

A few moments of silence followed after my last statement. Then Sally put her soft, cloth-like hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw her eyes were full of warmth and comfort.

"You didn't make a weak decision," she said softly. "You were just doing what you thought was right in order to help your uncle. But you still feel uncomfortable about this. How do you think I feel about having to make Jack's Sandy Claws suit while having to bear the fact that something terrible will happen with this?"

"Yeah, but you're forced to do that," I remarked dejectedly. "You didn't make any decision."

"Pinocchio, everything will… hopefully be fine. You may not be able to stop Jack,... but I can. I'll do everything I can to stop him from carrying this out. Just as long as you promise me something." She leaned closer. "Don't stop trying to make Jack change his mind."

"But it won't work."

"Then keep trying. And I'll keep trying, too."

We looked at each other for a few seconds, and then I slowly nodded my head.

"Okay," I acknowledged softly.

"Pinocchio!" I heard Jack call.

"I gotta go," I hissed. "See you, Sally. Good luck."

"Good luck to you, too," she answered back.

We both snuck out from behind the curtain, Sally made her way off the stage, and I made my way back over to my stool.

Behemoth, our local zombie, was up next.

"This device is called a nutcracker," explained Jack, pulling the nutcracker out and showing it to Behemoth.

At that moment, though, the doors of the town hall flew open.

"Jack!" called Lock, Shock and Barrel together, coming in. "Jack! We caught him! We caught him!"

"Perfect!" exclaimed Jack delighted. I had to say, as much as I hated those three little scumbags, I was impressed on how quickly they managed to find Santa. "Open it up. Quickly!"

Lock, Shock and Barrel pulled on the drawstrings of their ludicrously oversized bag. A streak of pink flew out of the bag, and when it landed, a feeling of awkward surprise went through me. Lock, Shock and Barrel hadn't found Santa. They had found the Easter Bunny.

"That's not Sandy Claws," said Jack, laughing slightly.

"It isn't?" said Shock confused.

"Who is it?" asked Barrel.

The Easter Bunny hopped up on stage and began sniffing Behemoth.

"BUNNY!" he bellowed.

The Easter Bunny squeaked in fright and leapt back into the bag, shaking nervously.

"It's not Sandy Claws," said Jack annoyed. "Take him back."

"We followed your instructions," said Lock guiltily.

"We went through the door," squeaked Barrel.

" _Which_ door?" Jack questioned, his irritation growing. "There's more than one. Sandy Claws is behind the door shaped like _this_." Jack pulled out a cookie that was shaped like a Christmas tree from his pocket.

"It told you!" Shock yelled at Lock, grabbing him by the neck and beginning to strangle him. Barrel punched her, and the three of them began beating the crap out of each other.

"You seriously didn't tell them _which_ door to go through?" I said pointedly.

"Shut up," snapped Jack.

Jack put his bony hand on his head vexingly. He then make a scary face which caught the three turds' attention. I smiled satisfyingly at the look of surprise on their faces. It would have been entertaining to continue to watch these three fight, but I knew that now was not the time.

"I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, sir," Jack said to the Easter Bunny, who was still shaking inside the bag. He then turned to the idiots. "Take _him_ home first. And apologize again. Be careful with Sandy Claws when you fetch him! Treat him nicely."

"Got it," they called back. "We'll get it right next time."

I sighed. With _that_ happening, as well as Sally's warning and my worry weighing on me, I knew that this plan was starting to stink of failure.

* * *

Once again, I was lying on my bed reading _Lord of the Rings_ , but this time, I couldn't concentrate on the story. I was so nervous about Jack's Christmas that I was shaking. I was even hoping that I would self-destruct. At least if that happened, it would put me out of my misery. I had never felt nerves like this before. The only other time I had felt this way was when I had my first Halloween performance in Halloween Town. However, this time was different. I had thought that if I got my mind off this (which was the main reason why I was reading), it would help. But nope!

"Pinocchio!" Jack called from downstairs.

"Coming," I responded, trying my best to keep my voice as steady as possible.

I put down my book, jumped off my bed, and ran downstairs to meet Jack, who was waiting by the front door.

"Come on," he said. "We have to go check on how everyone is doing."

I felt a jolt of panic. Oh man! This would be interesting. I gulped anxiously and nodded. Jack opened the front door and began walking down the front stairs. I followed, though rather stiffly.

When I got outside, the first thing I noticed was that the whole town was singing _again_. I was too nervous to make out what they were saying, though. When we walked through the front gates, my worst nightmares had been confirmed: everyone was doing Christmas in a Halloween-esque way! The toys were Halloween-y and the decorations, too. This was all so bad. Jack then joined in on the singing.

 _I don't believe_

 _What's happening to me!_

 _My hopes, my dreams_

 _My fantasies_

Jack cackled excitedly, and it make me feel sick. He then dragged me over to see how everyone was doing. Our first stop was with the Harlequin Demon, who was having one of the members of the Nightmare Band model for something, though I don't think the guy was too comfortable on account of him being put in stockades for the model. Ah well.

 _Won't they be impressed._

 _I am a genius._

 _See how I transform this old rat_

 _Into a most delightful hat._

The Harlequin Demon then took a dead rat, banged it with a meat hammer, and propped it onto the man's head, adding one of his feathers on his arm onto it. Jack and I walked over and examined it.

 _Hmmm_

 _My compliments from me to you on this your most intriguing hat_

 _Consider, though, this substitute_

 _A bat in place of this old rat._

Jack grabbed an old bat from under the table, fluffed it out and placed it on top of the Harlequin Demon's head. We then strutted over (or, at least, _he_ strutted over; _I_ was dragged over) to see how the Melting Man was doing. I had no idea what he was making. In fact, I don't think he was making anything. Just putting a run over a turtle in a box. Thank goodness Jack was there to straighten it out.

 _No, no, no. Now that's all wrong_

 _This thing will never make a present_

 _It's been dead for much too long_

 _Try something fresher_

 _Something pleasant._

 _Try again, don't give up!_

I looked around at everyone's work. They all chimed in for the chorus.

 _Altogether,_

 _That and this_

 _With all our tricks_

 _We're making Christmas time._

I sighed heavily. It felt like there were a thousand knots in my stomach.

* * *

As the days went by, things continued to grow worse. I began to take notice of some of the toys the town were creating. One day, I saw that the Clown with the Tear-Away Face had made these Jack-in-the-Boxes but they had pumpkins and black cats in them. I know that doesn't seem too bad, but I still had a strange feeling about it. Another day, I got a glimpse of the Corpse Dad stuffing what looked like little skulls with holly on top of them into a giant snake. And then it started eating him. Luckily, we were able to get him out, and thank gosh we were able to tame it _not_ to eat people, though I would've liked it better if we had tamed it enough to not eat random objects. Oh well. But besides that, I knew that it would only lead to trouble. Then, just a few days before Christmas, we set up Jack's sleigh. It basically looked like Santa's sleigh, but the main part of it looked like a coffin. Also, people were _still singing_! I was just surprised that I hadn't lost my mind yet from it.

 _This time._

 _This time._

 _It's ours!_

 _Making Christmas,_

 _Making Christmas._

 _La la la!_

 _It's almost here_

 _And we can't wait_

 _So ring the bells and celebrate_

 _Cause when the full moon starts to climb_

 _We'll all sing out._

 _It's Christmas time!_

Jack, once again, cackled gleefully. This was going way too far. I knew that now I would have to stop hanging back like some coward and do something, even if it did mean hurting my uncle a little.

* * *

Before we knew it, Christmas Eve was finally upon us. Everything was ready; the presents, the sleigh, and the reindeer, which turned out to be skeletons. Only two things needed to be done, and those were Lock, Shock and Barrel returning with Santa Claus and Jack's Santa suit. Meanwhile, I had done everything I could to try to stop Jack from carrying out this suicidal plan. Well, the only thing I had done was constantly make snarky comments on everything. I was hoping that if I did enough, Jack would eventually see that I wouldn't stop unless he gave up on this plan.

But, of course, that attempt had been fruitless. I knew I should have done more things, but I was under a lot of pressure. However, there were some parts about this plan that were, in a way, good. When Sally had presented it to Jack, I had to admit, even though I was practically sick with worry about everything, she had done a really good job with it. The only thing she needed to do was put some finishing touches on it. Everyone in town had gathered together in the Town Square in light of it being Christmas Eve, and they all got to watch Sally do her work. There was, however, one drawback with all this. Sally was still as worried as I was, and she was constantly warning Jack as she sewed together the trims on his sleeves. But, of course, Jack wasn't listening.

"You don't look like yourself Jack," said Sally in a nervous voice. "Not at all."

"THAT'S WHAT _I_ SAID!" I interjected loudly.

"Isn't that wonderful," said Jack joyfully. "I couldn't be _more_ wonderful."

"But you're the _Pumpkin King_ ," said Sally, taking the portrait of Jack holding the jack-o-lantern in the graveyard off the wall and showing it to him.

"Not anymore." Jack took the picture from her and cracked it on his knee. "And I feel _so much better_ now."

Annoyance coursed through me as I looked down at the broken remnants of the picture. "I'm not redrawing that, you know," I murmured loud enough for Jack and Sally to hear. Jack silenced me with a look.

"Jack," said Sally, her voice suddenly becoming patient,"I know you think something's missing, but-"

She then accidentally pricked Jack's finger with the needle.

"Ow!" Jack said, pulling back.

"Sorry," said Sally quickly.

"I TOLD HIM THAT, TOO!" I interjected again.

"Pinocchio, we all know that being a robotic-puppet is tough, but this story's not about you, is it?" said Jack superiorly.

What little strength there was left in me to control myself from leaping onto Jack and punching him repeatedly in the face was quickly dwindling.

"You're right, Sally," Jack continued. "Something is missing."

A strange sensation of wild hope course through me. Was Jack finally seeing sense? Was he really beginning to see that this whole plan of his was stupid?

"But what?" Jack turned to look in the mirror again. "I've got the beard, the coat, the boots…."

The feeling of hope began to deflate in me like a balloon. I shouldn't have expected less. Of course he would be thinking about his stupid suit.

"Aargh!" I yelled in frustration. Jack didn't seem to notice.

At that very moment though, three other people's voices caught all of our attention.

"Jack! Jack!" It was Lock, Shock and Barrel. They had returned from their month-long trek from finding Santa. I still couldn't believe it had taken them _this_ long to find something this time, when last time, it only took them a few hours. But it did look like they had found something because their bag was bulging. "This time we bagged him."

Jack walked over, almost knocking me over. It was bad enough that he wasn't listening to me, but now not even noticing me! This was really becoming an all-time low for Jack.

"This time we really did," said Lock excitedly.

"He sure is big, Jack," said Barrel

"And heavy," finished Shock.

They pulled on the drawstrings and out flew the very face of Santa Claus, and judging from his ruffled state, I could tell that Lock, Shock and Barrel did not treat him nicely like how Jack commanded. Personally, I wouldn't have assumed less.

"LET ME OUT!" Santa yelled as his face came shooting out of the bag. Everyone gasped at the sight of him.

"Sandy Claws, in person!" Jack said excitedly. "What a pleasure to meet you." He took hold of Santa's hand and shook it. Then he stopped. He stared down at Santa's black-gloved hand. "What?" Jack cried in astonishment. "Why you have hands! You don't have claws at all!"

I rolled my eyes at Jack's stupidity.

Santa lifted his hat, which was covering his eyes and took a look around. And he did _not_ seem to be impressed with everything.

"Where am I?" he said bewildered.

I waved at him awkwardly.

"Surprised, aren't you," Jack said. "I knew you would be. You don't have to worry about another thing this year."

My body burned hot with embarrassment. This wasn't happening. It just wasn't happening!

"Consider this a vacation, Sandy," Jack said in a would-be confident voice. "A reward. It's your turn to take it easy."

"B-but there must be some mistake," Santa said, but Jack wasn't paying attention, like how he always was these days.

"See that he's comfortable," Jack told Lock, Shock and Barrel. They were about to close Santa back into the bag when Jack stopped them. "Just a second, now." He pondered for a moment and then said, "Of course! _That's_ what I'm missing."

Jack leaned down and plucked Santa's hat off his head.

"B-but…" Santa stammered.

"Thanks," Jack said naively.

Lock, Shock and Barrel closed Sant into the sack.

"Hold on!" he yelled as the trio's walking tub began to stride away. "Where are we going now?"

Jack then began doing poor imitations of Santa's "Ho ho ho"-ing. As I watched Santa being dragged away, a sense of panic and despair spread through me.

"This is much worse than I thought," Sally moaned quietly. She had basically taken the words out of my mouth. " _Much_ worse!"

"No kidding," I laughed nervously. "This is all turning into one nightmare before Christmas."

"I know!" Sally's face suddenly brightened. Before I could ask her what she knew, she began walking away.

"Where are you going?" I called after her.

"I'll be right back," she answered.

I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but before I could ponder it any longer, Jack's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Pinocchio! Quit dilly-dallying and get on your costume."

Confusion shot through me at this statement.

"What costume?" I asked.

"The costume that Sally made for you," Jack said as if it were obvious. "It's over there, on that box."

I walked over to the box that Jack was pointing at. On it lay a green, button-up shirt with a red trimming and green pants, also with red trimmings, to match it. There was also a green, cone-shaped hat with a bell on the tip placed next to it, along with some long, pointy, rubber ears. The horrible truth hit me: Jack wanted me to dress up as a Christmas elf. As I stared at the ugly clothes, only one thought crossed my mind: I was going to pulverize Jack when all of this was over.

* * *

That night, everyone was once again gathered in Town Square to watch Jack's takeoff. Jack and I were inside the coffin-like sleigh. He wanted to make a dramatic entrance for everyone, which I thought was just stupid. On top of it, I didn't have that much room sitting in the sleigh with the top of it closed on us. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Jack rose out of the coffin theatrically. Everyone cheered at the sight of him.

"Pinocchio, come on out," he hissed.

" _No_!" I said stubbornly. There was no way I was going to let everyone see me in the humiliating elf costume.

"Pinocchio, _now_!"

"I feel stupid."

Jack looked at me irritably. Then a sneaky grin spread across his face. He lifted his leg off the ground, and I knew that he was doing that trick where one steps on one end of a certain floorboard and causes the other person to go flying up at the other end. There was no way that I was going to let him do that so that I could go flying fifty feet in the air and then come falling back to the ground and practically get myself killed.

"Okay, okay," I whispered urgently.

I clambered reluctantly out of the coffin and let everyone take in my stupid costume.

"Awww!" they all said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm cute," I said savagely. Then I added, "Don't make a big deal about it."

The Mayor then climbed up to the platform and pulled a long piece of paper out from his coat pocket on which, no doubtedly, he had written a speech.

" _Think of us as you soar triumphantly through the sky, outshining every star. Your silhouette, a dark blot on the moon. You who are our pride, you who are our glory, you who have frightened billions into an early grave_ …"

What I wouldn't have given to have put a gun to my head at that moment. And what made it worse was that Jack was making this superior look. It was enough to make me snap and punch him really hard in the gut. But then, something strange began to happen. The town began to get foggy. And it kept getting foggier and foggier until we were almost unable to see our own hands before our faces.

" _You who have… devastated the-the souls of the living_ …" The Mayor then stopped. Thank gosh because if I had to listen to his speech for one more minute, I would've ramed by head into a nearby wall.

"Oh no," Jack exclaimed. "We can't take off like this. The reindeer can't see an inch in front of their noses."

As happy as I was about this, I was still a little confused as to where the fog had come from. But then a thought crossed my mind. I looked out into the crowd and saw that Sally was standing there. She had this look of huge relief on her face. I couldn't believe my mind. _Sally_ had done this? She was good.

"This fog's as thick as… as," stuttered one of the Vampire Brothers.

"Jellied brains?" said the One-Eyed Monster helpfully.

"Thicker," another Vampire Brother commented.

"There go all my hopes," Jack said sitting down in the sleigh dejectedly. "My precious plans. My glorious dreams."

"There goes Christmas," said the Corpse Kid, tears leaking out of his eyes.

I had to admit, even though this whole plan was incredibly stupid, I still felt a little sorry for Jack. But I pushed the feeling of pity away, reminding myself that this had to be done in order to protect him. However, this moment of the plan being spoiled didn't last long. Zero started barking.

"No, Zero," a downcast Jack said. "Down boy." But there was a bright light glowing from him. I looked down and felt as if my heart had dropped out.

"My," Jack said, suddenly interested, "what a brilliant nose you have. The better to light my way!"

Oh good gosh, this was bad!

"To the head of the team, Zero!" commanded Jack.

Zero floated to the head of the reindeer team. Jack then grabbed me by the arm and forced me down into my seat.

"We're off!" he shouted, cracking his whip.

"Uh… Jack-" I started, but I didn't get to finish. I was jerked back into my seat as the reindeer began to move. They ran up the ramp, and before we knew it, we were soaring through the night sky.

I sat in my seat, completely petrified. It was happening. It was really happening. Jack's Christmas was really happening… and there was nothing I could do about it. Then I remembered. Sally! I jerked around in my seat and adjusted my binocular vision (yet another feature the Academy had installed in me). I zoomed in towards Halloween Town and saw her, standing there, with a look of shock on her face. Sadness and nervousness overcame me as I watched her getting smaller and smaller. I then turned off my binocular vision and slumped back in my seat. As we made our way out into the real world, I prayed deeply to Jesus for Jack and that I too, somehow, might be able to survive through all this.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It wasn't until after what seemed like two hours that we had reached the real world. We spotted a suburban town in the distance. I began to feel as though I was going to be sick, but I knew I had to keep it down. A sudden idea which I had been pondering on popped into my head.

"Uh, Jack?" I called over the wind. "I was just thinking that… if the people don't like the Christmas presents we give them, we could give them, like… a discount or something."

"Okay," Jack answered back. "What were you thinking."

"Well," I said, "I was thinking that…" I pulled out my backpack from my extendible pocked. I unzipped it and started rummaging inside. I quickly found what I was looking for and pulled it out. "...we could give them a carton of eggnog."

"Sounds fine to me," Jack said happily.

I smiled uncomfortably. I knew this wouldn't do much help, but I knew I had to do something to make Jack happy.

Jack then attempted a poorly done Santa laugh as we neared the first house. On top of the house where a row of light up angles. I had a funny feeling that we were going to crash right into them. And we did. Jack climbed out of the sleigh, grabbed the sack full of toys and jumped down the chimney, with me in tow.

We arrived in the house's living room. As Jack began to empty the contents of the bag, I stood nervously off to the side, hoping that nothing bad would happen. It wasn't until the next moment that almost made me pee my pants. A little boy had come around the corner. He must have come down to see Santa, but when he saw Jack, he gasped in surprise. He then began to tip-toe cautiously towards Jack.

"Jack," I hissed, trying to get my uncle's attention. " _Jack_ " But it was the kid who won Jack's attention.

"Santa?" the boy said in a confused voice.

Jack turned around and smiled at the kid.

"Merry Christmas!" Jack said happily to the boy. "And was is your name?"

The kid stuttered nervously. I knew that Jack was, at least, being nice to the kid, but this was going nowhere.

"That's all right," Jack said. He then reached into the sack, pulled out a present, and handed it to the kid. "I have a special present for you, anyway. There you go, sonny."

Jack then climbed into the chimney, did another poor attempt at Santa's laughing, and zoomed upwards. As I gazed restrainedly up at the chimney, I turned to the boy.

"Uhh… hi, kid," I said nervously. "My name is… umm…" I thought for a moment on what my elf name should be, and then it hit me. "Hammy! Hammy. Santa's number one elf. Listen, if you don't like that present, then, instead…" I rummaged through my backpack again. "...this carton of eggnog." I set it onto the table. "Not exactly sure how you would enjoy it, but your parents might like it." I smiled painfully. This wasn't helping at all. "Well… uh… Merry Christmas and enjoy your present." As I climbed into the chimney, I added silently, "I hope."

I then scurried up the chimney and onto the roof of the house.

"You done?" Jack asked.

"Yep," I answered.

"All righty, then," Jack said cheerfully. "Let's continue on, shall we?"

As we took off, I heard something that made my muscles tense and my stomach feel as though it had a hole in it. I was the sound of screaming. Screaming like how people would do on Halloween. My worst fears had been confirmed.

"Merry Christmas!" Jack called. Anger and annoyance began bubbling inside of me. Jack was clearly not paying any attention. This Christmas was truly going to be a nightmare.

The next house we stopped at was what seemed to be the house of some old lady. Jack, clearly not wanting to disturb her, pulled out what looked like a perfectly normal Christmas wreath and propped it onto the woman's front door. I put my carton of eggnog below the wreath and went on with Jack.

At the next house, Jack let out the giant snake. As I put down the carton of eggnog next to the Christmas tree, I said to the snake, " _This_ is not for you." However, I had a funny feeling that he was going to eat it anyway.

Then at the next house, Jack left the vampire teddy bear and the weird duck toy that the Vampire Brothers had made, and I, of course, left the carton of eggnog. Through all those deliveries, my fear began to increase even more on how this would all go.

And it kept getting worse as the night wore on.

Jack began house-hopping, dropping presents down each chimney (and, of course, I followed, dropping the eggnog down as well). All the while, I could hear the screams from the people inside the houses, though I did hear cries of delight when they seemed to notice the eggnog. And, of course, Jack wasn't listening. I, myself, was surprised that Jack wasn't noticing any of this. But then again, I shouldn't have been too surprised, since he hadn't been listening to single word about mine and Sally's warnings.

But soon was when the worst happened.

We were flying to the next house when sudden beams of light flashed down from below.

"Look, you two," Jack said, leaning over the sleigh. "Searchlights."

I, once again, felt as though I was going to be sick. "That can't be good," I mumbled, looking down at the lights.

A moment later, I heard something zooming right by the sleigh and then an explosion. I jumped in my seat. They were shooting at us! We were truly up a creek now.

"They're celebrating!" Jack exclaimed happily. "They're thanking us for doing such a good job."

I felt as though lightening had just struck me. Jack seriously thought that they were celebrating? My shock and disbelief then turned into the thing that I had been holding down for the past few weeks: rage. Jack had gone through this whole night handing out presents that were genetically designed to scare the living crap out of kids, failing to notice that things weren't going as he had planned. The whole thing with the toys was his fault, too. He had failed to give a thorough explanation of what Christmas was to everyone in Halloween Town, making them believe that it was just like Halloween. And what did he do? _He just shrugged it off_! And this whole idea, this whole _stupid_ idea of his thinking that he could do Christmas! And all the idiot crap that he went through to make it happen! But this! _This_ was the icing on the cake.

I gripped the edge of the sleigh, my body shaking uncontrollably. Finally, I stood up in the sleigh and turned around to face Jack. It was time for me to drop the act. This time, I was going to be certain that he would listen.

"ALL RIGHT!" I bellowed. "THAT IS IT, JACK SKELLINGTON! I HAVE HAD IT UP TO _HERE_ WITH YOUR IDIOCY LATELY! They're not celebrating! They're TRYING TO KILL US! Don't you see? Your Christmas has turned into nothing but a NIGHTMARE-"

"I'm sorry, Pinocchio," Jack said, as if he had just noticed that I was there. "Did you say something."

Shock and disbelief coursed through me again. But something new had come in. It was hurt. Jack seriously hadn't heard me scream out my rage just now. Was this how it was going to be between us now?

Anger came flooding up in me.

"You know what?" I said, trying to hold back tears. "Forget it! You wouldn't even listen to me if I tried." I flopped back into my seat, turned away from Jack, crossed my arms on the edge of the sleigh, and rested my head on top of them.

"What did I say?" Jack asked as though I had just insulted him. But at that moment, a missile went flying by the sleigh and almost hit us. The sleigh tipped a little to the left.

"Whoa!" Jack exclaimed. Then he leaned over to call down below, "Careful down there. You almost hit us!"

I rolled my eyes.

Zero barked nervously.

"It's okay, Zero," Jack said reassuringly, though I'm not sure that Zero was totally convinced. "Head higher."

Zero then guided the sleigh up and above the clouds.

* * *

A few minutes, Jack had taken out his list of names.

"Who's next on my list?" he observed. "Ah! Little Harry and Jorden. Won't they be surprised. Don't you think, Pinocchio?"

I looked up at Jack slowly.

"Oh yeah," I said sarcastically. "I'm certain that they'll just be _bewildered_."

We flew in silence for a few minutes, but then the clouds began to part. A beam of light suddenly shone in our faces. I gasped as soon as I realized what was going on. I heard something come flying upwards to us and hit one of the reindeer, knocking its head off. Jack grabbed hold of the reins, trying to study the sleigh.

"Whoa," I said.

A moment later, another missile came flying up at us, this time it hit the giant container where the sack of toys was in. I screamed as it hit.

"They're _trying_ to hit us!" Jack yelled.

"That's what I was _trying_ to tell you," I said in an _I-told-you-so_ voice. "But did you listen to me? Mmmm. No! YOU HAVEN'T BEEN LISTENING TO ME THIS WHOLE TIME!"

Jack suddenly gasped. He was silent for a few moments, after that. Then he grabbed hold of me and forced me to look at him.

"Pinocchio, listen to me," he said, his voice very serious. "I need you to get out of here, okay."

"What?" I said, confused.

"It's too dangerous," Jack went on. "You have to get out of here. Please, Pinocchio! I'm trying to keep you safe."

I was still confused as to why Jack wanted me to leave. But then, it hit me. Jack must have finally realized his mistake. I looked into his eye sockets. Stubbornness then took control.

"No, Jack," I said firmly. "I'm staying with you."

"I'm sorry, okay!" Jack yelled, but not like he was angry. He sounded desperate. "Now please! GO!"

I stood in place, still looking into my uncle's eye sockets. Then, after a few moments, I nodded slowly, sadness and fear sweeping through me. I clamber over to the right edge of the sleigh. Just as I was about to jump, I stopped. I suddenly remembered mine and Jack's conversation in the forest. I decided now would be the only time that I would get to say it.

"Jack," I choked, tears beginning to form. I turned around to face him. "In case anything bad happens… I want you to know that…" I choked back a sob. I then took a deep breath and said, "I love you, _Uncle_ Jack."

Jack looked at me, surprised to hear me call him "uncle".

I then jumped off the sleigh and began to propel myself away into the night. After a few seconds' passing, I turned around. What I saw almost made my heart stop. A missile was heading smack-dab towards Jack.

"JACK!" I screamed, but too late. The missile had hit its target.

The explosion was too bright for me to see. But when I did look, I caught a glimpse of Jack and the now destroyed sleigh flying in the air for a moment. Then, as if in slow motion, began plummeting towards Earth.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!" Jack yelled as he gravitated towards the ground. There was another explosion as Jack and the sleigh hit the earth. I propelled there, completely frozen. For a few minutes, I thought I would never move again.

"No…" I whispered to myself. "No…."

I then zoomed down below.

* * *

I ran as fast as I could through the neighborhood, searching here and there for Jack. So far, nothing. But I wasn't going to stop until I found him… or, at least, his body.

"JACK!" I called out. "JACK!"

Suddenly, I saw lights flashing ahead of me. I quickly duck behind a trash can just as a police car came rolling by. I had to avoid them. If they caught me and found out that I was in relation with the person who had just made a mess of Christmas, there would be no guarantee that I would be going back to Halloween Town. When the car had passed, I got up and continued running.

"ATTENTION!" I heard them call into their intercom. "ATTENTION CITIZENS. TERRIBLE NEWS. THERE'S STILL NO SIGN OF SANTA CLAUS. ALTHOUGH THE IMPOSTER HAS BEEN SHOT DOWN. IT LOOKS LIKE CHRISTMAS WILL HAVE TO BE CANCELLED THIS YEAR!"

I stopped, my heart plummeting. I needed to find Jack - and fast.

I took off again.

 _Please_ , I prayed as hard as I could. _Please, I beg of you. Please don't be mad at my uncle. He didn't know what he was doing was wrong. He was just upset about Halloween and he thought that doing this would make him feel better. So please. On this holy night of which You were born, please let my uncle be alive_!

Tears began seeping down my face.

"JAAAAAAACK!" I called out one last time.

I ran out into the middle of the street. When I looked to my left, I saw something that almost made my heart stop again.

"JACK!" I screamed.

He had apparently landed in what seemed to be the local cemetery of this town (though not as big as ours). He appeared to have landed on what looked like a statue of a stone angel, holding open a book. For some odd reason, I thought that it looked as though God had caught him before he could hit the ground.

I began running over to the cemetery. While I did, I pulled off my ridiculous elf costume and put my gi and yellow hat back on. When I got to the gate of the cemetery, I began to climb over it like a monkey. When I landed on the other side, I immediately took in everything that was there. The sleigh had been destroyed and was on fire. The reindeer had disappeared. My theory was that they must have been demolished in the explosion. However, I did see that some of the toys were scattered around, all of them looking ashened and some on fire.

My attention quickly snapped back to Jack's unconscious body. I ran over to where his head was hanging over on one side.

"Jack!" I breathed petrified. "Oh my gosh! Please don't be double-dead. Please don't be double-dead. Wake up. Wake up! Please, _please_ wake up!"

I grabbed onto his shoulders and began shaking him back and forth, but nothing happened. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't lose my uncle. He was the only family I had left. Not only that, but Halloween Town's beloved Pumpkin King. When he still hadn't moved, the horrible truth sunk in me. My eyes welling with tears, I dropped to my knees, buried my face into my hands, and began sobbing to my uncle's defeat. I had never felt so helpless… so alone in my life. Then, something tapped me on the head. I looked up, and what I saw made me feel as if my heart had just started beating again. Jack's eyes were opened and he was moving again!

"JACK!" I screamed with delight. "YOU'RE ALIVE! OH THANK GOSH! THANK GOSH! I WAS SO SCARED!"

I wrapped my arms around my uncle's head and he patted me gently on the head. When I pulled away, I quickly noticed that Jack's mandible was missing. But then, I noticed Zero for the first time since I got there. He appeared to have Jack's missing mandible. He floated over and, whining sadly, placed it back on Jack's mouth. Jack gently pushed it back into place. A hushed silence then fell between the three of us.

"Jack," I said timidly backing away, "are you okay?"

Jack then broke into song, pulling himself up on the angle statue.

 _What have I done? What have I done?_

 _How could I be so blind?_

 _All is lost. Where was I?_

 _Spoiled all, spoiled all_

 _Everything's gone all wrong._

 _What have I done? What have I done?_

 _Find a deep cave to hide in_

 _In a million years they'll find me_

 _Only dust and a plaque_

 _That reads, "Here lies poor old Jack"!_

Sympathy tugged at my heart. I almost broke into tears again.

"Pinocchio," Jack said. "Come here." He gestured for me to come closer to where his face was hanging over. So I did.

Jack sighed. "You were right all along," he said in a serious, but sad tone. "Both you and Sally. This _was_ a stupid idea. I should have listened to you... but I didn't, and now look where that's gotten me." He gestured over to the ruined sleigh and toys. "And that was very wrong of me." He stopped for a moment, and I could've sworn I saw a tear form in his eye. He then continued. "You are my nephew. My family, and what you have to say about certain things is just as important as anything else…. What I'm saying is… I'm sorry."

I stared at Jack, taking in everything he had just said. I then took a deep breath and, putting my hand on his shoulder, said, "It's okay, Jack. I forgive you."

Jack looked at me for a moment as if he weren't expecting me to say that. Then, a smile broke across his face. I threw my arms around my uncle's head and he put his behind mine. I was glad for this. Even though I had been mad at my uncle, I never wanted him to suffer.

I broke away, but as I did, Jack's face became sad again. He the continued to sing.

 _But I never intended all this madness._

 _Never!_

 _And nobody really understood? Well how could they!_

He then pulled himself up again.

 _That all I've ever wanted was to bring them something great!_

 _Why does nothing ever turn out like it should?_

Jack then stood up on the stone book.

 _Well, what the heck!_

 _I went and did my best!_

 _And by God, I really tasted something swell!_

Hope began to flare in me. Jack was looking at this optimistically.

 _And for a moment, why, I even touched the sky!_

Jack then jumped off the statue and landed gracefully on the ground.

 _And at least I left some stories they can tell! I did!_

 _And for the first time since, I don't remember when_

 _I felt just like my old bony self again._

 _And I, Jack, the Pumpkin King!_

 _That's right! I AM the Pumpkin King!_

Jack ripped off the remains of his ruined Santa suit to reveal his tux underneath. I would have been funny, though, if he had stripped naked. He cackled in a pumped way

"Whoo-hoo!" I yelled with delight. "YEAH! JACK IS BACK!"

"Get over here, Pinocchio!" Jack bellowed with ecstasy. I ran over and climbed up onto his shoulders.

 _And I just can't wait until next Halloween_

 _Cus' I've got some new ideas that'll really make them scream._

 _And by God!_

 _I'm really going to give it all my might!_

He then stopped.

 _Uh-oh!_

I got off his shoulders and noticed, too, that Zero was holding Santa's hat in his mouth.

 _I hope there's still time to set things right._

 _Sandy Claws!_

Jack took Santa's hat and put it in his inside coat pocket. He then opened the grave with the angel on it and ran into the secret passageway underneath it. Very few people knew this, but for the people in Halloween Town, they could sometimes pass into the real world, when necessary, through the graves. Without another moment's thought, Zero and I followed.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

We ran through the torch-lit tunnel for what felt like two hours. Finally, we reached the grave door that led us back to Halloween Town.

"Come on, you two," Jack said as he threw open the door. "Christmas isn't over yet!"

"Right," I said in agreement.

Jack and I ran through the cemetery and through the gates.

"So what's the plan?" I asked as we ran through the outskirts of Halloween Town.

"We're going to get Sandy Claws back from Lock, Shock and Barrel," Jack explained. "And if they give us any trouble… I'm giving you permission to beat them up."

I felt as though I had just gotten the best birthday present any kid could ask for.

As we ran over a hill, Lock, Shock and Barrel's treehouse came into view. When we got to the half bridge that led up to it, we heard sounds coming from below in Oogie's lair.

It sounded like someone calling out for help, and the voice sounded very familiar. Then I recognized that it was Sally's voice! What on earth was she doing down there? Then it hit me. Lock, Shock and Barrel must have brought Santa to Oogie (just as I had suspected they would) and Sally must have come to rescue Santa. Unfortunately, from the sound of what was going on below, it hadn't worked.

I looked up at Jack, and he seemed to have gotten the same solution due to the determined and ticked off look on his face.

Zero made a soft growl and Jack shushed him. He then grabbed onto the rope which was attached to a cage which, from my understanding, was how Lock, Shock and Barrel got up to their treehouse, and began to climb down it, with me at his tail. I didn't know why it was lowered all the way down to Oogie's lair, but, I didn't care. All I, and Jack, cared about was getting Santa the heck out of there. As we did, we could hear Sally crying out for help again and Santa exclaiming, "This can't be happening!" which made us go even faster.

We finally came upon a small, barred window which looked into Oogie's lair. When we looked in, we saw that Oogie had apparently prepared some kind of stew, and Sally and Santa were both tied up and put on a metal platform which seemed to be leaning closer to the stew. Oogie was going _eat_ them? Man, that guy was a psycho.

"Okay," I hissed, my mind racing, "here's the plan: I'll go in and distract Oogie, they you jump out with a knife and start attacking him, and while you're doing that, I'll get Sally and Santa, and then we'll back flip out the front door just to make it look cool!" My excited energy was coursing through me so much that it was making me sweat.

"I don't think Sandy Claws _can_ do a backflip," Jack said unsurely.

"Okay then," I said, thinking again, "he can...barrel roll out the door…."

"Pinocchio, listen," Jack interrupted. "I know you want to help save Sally and Sandy, but I think we should go with my plan, this time."

"Jack," I said defensively, "you've been wrong about stuff all day and-"

"Pinocchio, look," Jack began, "I know this whole experience is my fault and I've been pretty stupid with it, but just this once, trust me."

I looked back at Sally and Santa being tied up against their will and then back at Jack. He had a confident look on his face. I hesitated for a moment. Jack had apologized already, so I decided I would give him this chance. I nodded to him.

Jack then crawled head first through the gap in the bars and then down the wall, with me following. He then ran over to the left and hid behind some skeleton, cowboy, gun-toting robots and gestured for me to follow. When I got over to him, he put his arm out in front of me to make me stop. I soon realized that this was one of those moments when we were waiting at the right time to save Sally and Santa.

"Ashes to ashes and dust to dust," Oogie exclaimed in maniacal excitement. "Oh, I'm feeling weak, WITH HUNGER! One more role of the dice ought to do it."

He threw his pair of dice over to some skeleton decoration think and he went over to check them out.

"WHAT!" he yelled furious. "SNAKE EYES!" He banged his fist down on the table, which, to no surprise made the dice move a little. "Eleven!" he shouted in an evilly happy way. He cackled insanely, walking over to the platform. "Looks like I won the jack-pot! Bye-bye, doll face and sand man."

He grabbed onto a lever and as he pulled it, the platform began to move vertically. Jack then gestured for me to make a run for it at Sally and Santa. We ran as fast as we could and grabbed onto both of them just before they could go splashing into the soup. We then quickly took them over to an open iron-maiden and placed them inside (we didn't close the door, of course).

"Stay here," Jack whispered. "We'll take care of Oogie."

Jack and I ran over to the platform and, with great difficulty, placed ourselves on it so that Oogie would get a surprise attack. I put myself into the crane stance, something that I saw in a movie once, upside down. When Oogie was done laughing like a maniac, he mumbled, "What the…" and then flipped the platform over. Upon seeing us, he gasped with shock.

"Hello, Oogie," Jack greeted in a non-friendly manner.

"J-Jack," Oogie stuttered as Jack and I got off the platform, "but they said you were dead? You must be...DOUBLE-DEAD!"

He stamped on a button that looked like a spider and the floor beneath us started moving. Jack and I nearly lost our balances. Then, out of nowhere, these giant, card things wielding swords appeared. Jack had to move his butt so as not to get stabbed and I had to duck my head so as not to get decapitated. More card things appeared and started waving their swords around. Not only that, but the blades on the stirrer flipped upward so that they could try to shred us, as well. Jack and I had to get down on all fours so that we wouldn't get liquified.

"Well, come on, Bone Man," Oogie taunted.

Jack and I shifted so we could stand beside the card things. We then began to flip over the cards' flailing hands, though I did it more awesomely. Oogie made a mock frightened sound, then pulled on another lever. Jack and I began to advance toward him, but as we did, Oogie yelled, "FIRE!"

We quickly looked over to our right and saw the gun-toting robots coming towards us. Thankfully, we were faster than they were. Jack jumped up on their arms and started moving back and forth in order to keep his balance. Me, I just hovered in the air with my propelling tail.

Oogie gave us an annoyed look, but then it turned into panic as he realized that the moving floor was heading right towards the robots. He tried his best to run away, but failed. He then jumped and landed on the ground near a skull-looking button. He landed near enough to touch it.

"Jack, look out!" Sally screamed.

Jack and I looked behind us to see a buzzsaw coming right at us. I yelled in surprise. Jack jumped off the robots' arms and I flew out of the buzzsaw's reach. We landed right in front of Oogie, whose look of panic had returned.

"It ends here," I said seriously. I then got out my nunchucks from my pocket and started waving them around my head so that I'd seem hardcore.

The platform that Oogie was standing on then sprung up sideways, making him fly up to his stirrer thing.

"SO LONG, JACK!" he yelled as the stirrer thing began to fly upward. Oogie was getting away! But how he planned to get out of here, I didn't know. There were no doors or anything. Just a pipe and a window. Was he going to squeeze himself through the pipe or something. I could honestly say that this "escape" plan of his was pretty much a fail.

But then something distracted me from my thoughts of thinking too deeply into Oogie's escape. A long string was dangling from Oogie's right hand. Jack seemed to have noticed it, too.

"HOW _DARE_ YOU TREAT MY FRIENDS SO _SHAMEFULLY_!" Jack yelled. He grabbed onto the string and began pulling on it.

The string was connected to some stitches in Oogie's right arm and when the stitches began to unwind, something from inside of Oogie's arm began to fall out. In fact, there were more that one things.

Jack flung the string around the stirrer thing and-

BAM!

Oogie's entire skin ripped off his body. And underneath was an assortment of bugs all shaped in Oogie's original body form.

"NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Oogie yelled out in pain. Oogie then began to disintegrate as the bugs started falling to the ground.

"MY BUGS, MY BUGS, MY BUGS, my bugs, my bugs, my bugs, my bugs, my bugs, my bugs, my bugs-" Oogie screamed as he disassembled. Most of the bugs fell to the ground and scurried away while others fell into the soup. Finally, only one green bug remained, screeching in panic and proceeding to get away. But before it could, Santa squished it as hard as he could. Santa was AWESOME!

After that, Santa turned to me and Jack, and he did _not_ look happy.

"Forgive me, Mr. Claws," Jack said apologetically, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Santa's hat. "I'm afraid I made a terrible mess with your holiday."

" _We_ made a mess of your holiday," I said reassuringly, putting my hand on Jack's.

"Bumpy sleigh ride, Jack?" Santa said angrily, taking the hat from Jack. "The next time you get the urge to take over someone else's holiday, _I'd_ listen to _her_." He pointed over to Sally, who had unbound herself from her bonds. "She's the only one who makes any sense around this insane asylum."

 _Ouch_ , I thought. I looked up at Jack and saw that there was a slightly hurt look on his face.

"Skeletons," I heard Santa grumble as he walked over the the overhanging pipe.

"I hope there's still time," Jack said brightly.

"To fix Christmas?" Santa said turning back to us. "Of course there is. I'm Santa Clause." He then put his finger inside of his nose and floated magically upward through the pipe and out of the lair. Jack stared on in amazement.

"He'll fix things Jack," Sally said reassuringly, walking over to Jack and resting her hand on his arm. "He knows what to do."

I suddenly felt a strange vibe between the two. A _romantic_ vibe. Smiling, I backed away into the shadows to give the two some alone time.

"How did you get down here, Sally?" Jack asked and there sounded like amazement in his voice.

"Well, I was trying to…" Sally stuttered shyly, her hands wringing. "Well, I wanted to...to…"

"To help me?" Jack finished.

"I couldn't let you just…" Sally said, turning away slightly.

"Sally," Jack said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I can't believe I never realized that you-"

But before Jack could finish his sentence, a burst of light came from above.

"Jack!" called a voice from above. I looked up and saw it was the Mayor, along with Lock, Shock and Barrel. They must have found out that Jack had taken out their master and, in order to avoid getting into trouble, they went to tell the Mayor that Jack was okay. "Jack!" the Mayor exclaimed again.

"There he is!" Barrel exclaimed.

"Alive!" Lock said.

"Just like we said," Shock finished.

"Grab ahold, by boy," the Mayor said happily, throwing down a rope.

Jack, holding Sally's hand, grabbed onto the rope and the Mayor pulled them up. I then propelled myself up after them.

"Oh, Jack," the Mayor said as we reached the surface. "Thank goodness you're alive. We all thought you were dead."

"Ahem!" I cleared my throat.

"Oh yes," the Mayor said, suddenly noticing that I was there. "And, of course, you, too, Pinocchio."

"Well, it's gonna take more than some missiles from the Military to take down the Pumpkin King," I said smiling. Everyone laughed.

"Come on, everyone," Jack said. "Let's go home."

* * *

The Mayor honked his horn to signal the citizens of Halloween Town that Jack was back.

Everyone came rushing out of their houses, cheering for the safe return of their king. They even started singing.

 _Jack's okay, and he's back okay_

 _He's alright_

 _Let's shout, make a fuss, scream it out!_

 _Jack is back now everyone sing_

 _In our town of Halloween._

Jack and I leaped off the Mayor's car and began marching up the stairs of the town hall. When we got to the top, we noticed that Corpse Kid had grabbed onto Jack's leg in happiness. Jack pulled him off, tossed him in the air in a celebratory way, and placed him on top of the Mayor's hat. He then shook the Mayor's hand.

"It's great to be home!" he said happily, putting his arm around me.

We then heard some "Ho, ho, ho" -ing from up above. We all looked up and saw Santa flying over Halloween Town.

"Happy Halloween!" he called down to Jack.

"Merry Christmas!" Jack called back, waving. I smiled. I was glad that Santa had forgiven Jack. At least now we didn't have to worry about an elf uprising or anything.

Suddenly, I noticed white things falling from the sky. It was snow. Santa had made it snow in Halloween Town! I was honestly happy to say that it was a Christmas miracle. The town then broke out into song again.

 _What' this?_

 _What's this?_

 _I haven't got a clue._

 _What's this?_

 _Why it's completely new!_

 _What's this?_

 _Must be a Christmas thing._

 _What's this?_

 _It's really very strange._

I propelled myself onto a nearby lamppost and watched as the town enjoyed the true meaning of Christmas. The Mayor was catching snowflakes on his tongue, the Vampire brothers were playing hockey with a pumpkin, the Undersea Gal and Behemoth were making snow angels, Lock, Shock and Barrel were having a snowball fight; and Corpse Kid and the Gargoyle Boy were making a snowman. And Jack, he was enjoying the snow as it fell…and then got hit by a snowball thrown by the three pranksters. I smiled as I watched the town in their merriment. Then something else caught my eye. It was Dr. Finkelstein, but there was someone else with him. When I got a better look at the other person, my mouth dropped open. It was a woman who looked a lot like the Doctor. The Doctor had made a she-version of himself! He had made himself a wife! I noticed that Jack had spotted this, too. He then looked over to his right, and I followed his gaze. We both saw Sally leaving the town through the gates. She must have been heading toward the graveyard. Jack had a look on his face as if he didn't know what to do. Taking a deep breath, I propelled myself down to him.

"Go get her," I said.

Jack turned around to face me.

"Go get her," I repeated in an urging voice.

Jack finally understood me and began to leave the town. I turned to head back to the house when I heard Jack call me.

"Pinocchio!"

I turned around to Jack.

"You remember what you said to me right before you were about to jump off the sleigh?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm," I responded.

"Well," Jack continued, "I just wanted to say that..." He stopped for a moment, and then said, taking a deep breath, "I love you, too, my nephew."

Warm happiness flowed through me. Overcome with joy, I ran over to Jack's outstretched arms and hugged him as hard as I could, and he hugged back.

As we broke away, I once again said to Jack, "Well don't just stand there. _Go get her_."

"Oh, right," Jack said, suddenly remembering Sally. He then ran off to the graveyard.

I chuckled happily as I watched my uncle go. After a few moments, I turned around and began heading toward the house once more.

* * *

Dressed in my pajamas, I poured myself a glass of milk. I had just gotten done making some cookies for Santa. My only hope was that he would come by to pick them up. I was about to head upstairs when the front door opened.

Both Jack and Sally came in, grinning broadly. But what really caught my eye was that they were holding hands. I looked up at Jack and he nodded to me.

The warm happiness seeped through me again. I looked over at Sally and she smiled at me. Setting down my milk, I ran over to her and, just as I had with Jack, hugged her as hard as I could, and she hugged back. I then felt a new set of arms around me. I looked up to see Jack hugging us both. Smiling, I closed my eyes, happy for two things: that Halloween Town finally got to celebrate Christmas and to have Sally as part of our family.


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue

And so, in the end, Jack Skellington returned home to his rightful holiday. And he's been thinking up of new, great ideas for Halloween. And, as a bonus, he's been listening to me a lot more now. Well, more than he was before.

But that's not all. He and Sally eventually got married! Their wedding was beautiful, and it will be something that I will truly never forget. Also, I got to teach them about the religious part of Christmas. And I am happy to say that they gladly accepted Jesus into their lives.

So, I am now living happily with my aunt and uncle in Halloween Town. I'm glad that my life has brought me to this point. Because I truly feel at home.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone! I've FINALLY FINISHED MY FIRST FANFIC! YAAAAAY! It took a long time full of delays, vacations, and me just being lazy, but I'm happy I got it done. I want to thank my sister for helping in editing my story and I would also like to thank my babysitter who introduced me to the**_ **Nightmare Before Christmas** _ **. It's one of my favorite movies, along with**_ **Pinocchio** _ **and so many others and I want to thank her for showing it to me. I also want to thank Jesus for letting me be able to write this story and for putting this idea into my mind. He truly is the most amazing thing in the universe. There will be more fanfics to come, so just wait.**_


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